


Please Don't Let Me Disappear

by Natalie_Carson



Series: I Do Love Nothing In The World So Much As You [5]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: AU, Angst, F/M, Like so much angst, alternative universe, it's also kind of heartbreaking, sorta supernatural I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-09-21 12:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 53,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17044121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natalie_Carson/pseuds/Natalie_Carson
Summary: "If you arrest me, I'm going to put a curse on you. I'm going to make sure none of our loved ones remember you and you spend the rest of your life miserable with memories that aren't real anymore."At the time Amy laughed and rolled her eyes. He was a drugie if he wanted tocurseher, she wasn't going to stop him. Jake would be so jealous she thought.But now, she was laying in a bed in rural Missouri next to a man she didn't know and suddenly she wasn't laughing anymore.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You guys I'm so excited for this one!! I wasn't planing to post it until much more of it was written but I just couldn't wait! That being said, updates may be slower than the past couple of stories :(

**Amy**

Amy would go to bed herself but wake up as someone else. She didn’t realize it at the time as she chased Edgar Porter down the Brooklyn Alley. She didn’t realize it as she finally caught him, throwing him to the ground, trying desperately to catch her breath. She didn’t realize it as she cuffed his hands behind his back and told him that she was under arrest. She didn’t realize it as she shoved him in the back of her car and drove him to the nine nine. And she definitely didn’t believe him when he said that she was going to regret this later. 

“I gotta give you credit.” Edgar said once he was handcuffed to her desk. Amy was going through the means to get out the necessary paperwork to book the guy on charges of drug dealing. “You gave up a pretty good fight. I thought that I was going to get away and you proved me wrong.”

“I prove a lot of people wrong. Just ask my husband.”

“Is that him there in the picture?” Edgar asked pointing towards a picture on Amy’s desk of her and Jake on their wedding day. She smiled slightly at the picture before returning her attention to the paperwork.

“Yes.” She said.

“What’s his name?” Edgar asked

“None of your business.” Amy said not even bothering to look up from the paperwork. It was almost five o’clock and although normally she had no problem staying late, tonight she had promised Jake that she would be home at a decent hour so that they could watch tv and eat. It was something that she had been looking forward to all day oddly enough. “What is your full name?”

“Edgar Porter.” he said. “I don’t have a middle name. How long have you guys been married?”

“A little over a year.” Amy said before continuing to fill out the paperwork as fast as she could while still making sure that it was done in pristine form. 

“How long have you been pregnant?” Amy immediately snapped her head up to look at the man cuffed to her desk. They hadn’t told anyone that she was pregnant yet, not even their parents. She only took a test about three weeks ago.

“I’m not..”

“Don’t lie.” He taunted her. “How long? 3 weeks? 4 weeks? Oh 6 got it.”

“How did you know?” Amy asked almost in a whisper terrified that one of the other detectives would hear her. Charles finding out is the very last thing that she wants to happen right now.

“I have my ways. Your husband...Jake… must be really excited.” Amy stared at the guy completely dumbfounded for a moment before she realized that Jake’s name tag was on the desk across from hers as well as the same picture. She rolled her eyes and tried to focus on the paperwork she wouldn't let this guy get arise out of her. “I bet that he’s a little worried though. Probably terrified that he’s not going to be a good dad, that he’s going to turn into his dad. That must be hard.”

Amy looked at the guy, who now had her full attention. “Stop talking.” She said as sternly as she could. 

“He’ll be a good dad though.” the guy continued. She tried to ignore him, tried to finish the paperwork, but his voice kept getting louder and louder in her head somehow. “Your son will be very lucky to have him.” There’s no way this guy could know what gender her six week old baby was. That just wasn’t possible. 

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before forcing herself to finish this form. The faster that it was done the quicker that she got away from him and home to her loving husband. The pen moved over the page at lightning speed until the only thing left was her signature and Holts.

“I wouldn't sign that if I were you.” Edgar warned as her pen hovered over the tiny x and the line that was meant for her name.

“Why not?”

“If you sign that paper I’m going to put a curse on you.”

“A curse?” Amy asked with a laugh. “You have done nothing but talk crap since the moment that you sat down.”

“You sign that paper and I will make sure that none of your loved ones remember you. You will be erased from their life. They won’t remember you, but you will have to remember them every single day for the rest of your life. Think hard before you sign the paper.”

Amy signed her name before putting her pen back in her desk. “Go ahead, curse me.” Amy dared him before walking the form to Holt. 

\------

“Jake!” Amy called out entering their apartment. It was only a quarter past five by the time she made it home. Not too bad it if you asked her. She followed the smell of freshly made chicken that was coming from their kitchen. When she rounded the corner she smiled to herself at Jake singing softly to Taylor Swift while he made pre made mashed potatoes. “Hey.” Amy said startling him out of his little concert.

“Hey babe.” He said as she made her way around the island to let him place a small kiss on her lips. “How was your day.”

“Lot less fun since you weren’t there.”

“Aww.” Jake said. “Well I feel the same way when I’m stuck here without you.” Jake said.

“I did arrest this drug dealer who told me that he was going to curse me.” Amy said all casually as if it was just a normal part of the job.

“What?!” Jake exclaimed. “Unfair! I’ve never had someone curse me before. Why do you get all the cool people?”

“You want to be cursed? You know a lot of people would argue that marrying me was your curse.”

“Then that curse was the best thing that ever happened to me.” Jake said.

“Your such a romantic sap.” Amy said grabbing a couple of plates out of the cabinet. “No but it was so weird because he knew like all these details about my life that he should not have been able to know?”

“Like what?” Jake asked grabbing the food and heading towards the table. Amy sat down across from him garbing some chicken to put on her plate. To his credit, Jake made chicken that would put Charles’s to shame. Probably because it was seasoned with something exotic that Amy couldn't pronounce.

“Well he knew your name without me even telling him.” Amy said. “But I figured he got lucky there, being that we have the same picture on our desks.”

“True.” Jake said. “What else did he know?”

“He knew that I was pregnant.” Amy said and Jake’s eyes widened slightly. “I mean I don’t look pregnant do I? According to the books six weeks is way too early to start showing unless we’re having triplets. Oh god are we having triplets.”

“Ames.” Jake said laughing and holding up his hand to try and get her to stop spirling. “You do not look pregnant. At all. If you did then Charles would’ve asked by now. And we aren’t having triplets but could you imagine how cute three of them would be running around the house.” 

“The cutest.” Amy agreed. “But not so cute inside my stomach. He even knew that we were only six weeks along. And then he started talking about you being excited but also nervous because of your father leaving you. He said that he knew you would be a good dad though. He had to have just taken a random guess but he said we're having a son if that means anything to you.”

“He got all of that from the picture on our desk?” Jake asked. “I mean that’s kind of freaky. Charles didn’t hear him when he said that you were pregnant right? And I personally hope that we are having a daughter although I'll be happy with anything.” he said with a big grin on his face.

“No thank God. He would’ve collapsed right there on the spot.” Jake laughed picturing Boyle when he finally did find out about baby Peralta who would be here in about nine months.

“What exactly did he say this curse was going to be?”

“He said that if I went through with arresting him then he would make sure that none of my friends and loved ones remembered who I am. He said that he would pretty much erase me from their minds.”

“What did you arrest him for?”

“Drug use and dealing.”

“Oh okay so he’s a whack.”

“For sure.” Amy said getting up to put her plate in the dishwasher. “Do you want to watch tv for a little while?”

“Of course.” Jake said putting up his plate before going to the couch. Amy laid down next to him cuddling up next to him. He placed his hand over her stomach “I love you.”

“I know. Han Solo.” Amy said. “I love you too.” she added after a moment a smile on her face and even though she couldn’t see Jake, she knew that he was smiling too.

“When are we going to tell our parents?” Jake asked her.

“I don’t know. Probably soon, I mean they can definitely know before everyone else.”

“Yeah.” Jake agreed. “For sure.”

“What about nursery?” 

“Jake babe.” Amy said turning in his arms to face him. “We’ve got a plenty of time, we’ve only known for like three weeks.”

“I know. It’s just you know.”

“You don’t have anything to worry about. I promise you that you are not going to be like your dad. You’re not going to leave me and baby.” Amy said. “The fact that you’re worried about it means that you’re nothing like him.”

“But that guy knew just by looking at a picture of me that I was a flight risk.”

“No. He knew that your dad was a flight risk and you wanted to do better. He said that you were going to be a great dad and that is the only thing that I know he was telling the truth about.”

“You’re going to be a good mom.”

“And you’re going to be a good dad.” Amy said and when Jake opened his mouth to protest she leaned forward pressing her lips to his. “Shh.” She said and he smiled against her. She then moved to be laying back down enjoying the feeling of Jake’s arms wrapped around her and his steady breath on his neck. After an episode or two her eyes begin to get heavy and slowly drift close.

She wasn’t sure how long it had been when she felt Jake gently nudging her. “Ames baby you can’t stay here. You’ll regret it the morning.”

“I don’t wanna move.” Amy pouted. Their house was dark and at some point Jake must have turned off the tv.

“You know that your neck is going to hurt and I can’t sleep on the couch. So if you want to sleep with me you need to come upstairs. Not _sleep_ with me although if you wanted I wouldn't object.” 

“Carry me?” Amy asked and in an instant she was in Jake’s arms, her arms draped around his neck and her head buried into his chest. “You smell good. Is that new?”

“Yeah? You like it?”

“I do.” Amy said before Jake dropped her on the bed. She started to crawl under the covers as Jake climbed in bed next to her before she remembered that she needed to brush her teeth and take out her contacts. She laid there staring at the ceiling for a minute before deciding that she did need to go into the bathroom and do it. 

Amy came out of the bathroom several minutes later climbing into bed for real this time. She took off her glasses and set them down on the nightstand smiling at the framed wedding picture sitting there, but there was something off about it. She blinked several times, it was blurry, like oddly blurry considering how much they paid the photographer to take those pictures.

She grabbed her glasses and slid them back on but that didn’t make the picture any less blurry. “Jake? Jake?” No answer. Amy grabbed the frame and squinted at the picture. Jake was crystal clear but her own body was growing more and more blurry by the second. “Jake.” She said again much louder but he didn’t even budge. How was he able to fall asleep so fast and why was she never able to. 

She glances back down at the picture where she is almost completely gone at this point. Her heart beating so rapidly in her chest that’s she’s not entirely sure that she’s not about to have a heart attack. Then all of a sudden her hands start to burn as if she is holding onto fire. She drops the picture and the sound of the glass shattering as it hits the wood floor is loud enough that she’s sure Jake has woken up.

The room around her starts to spin in circles so fast and then there is a violent shaking that reminds her of that earthquake her and her brother experienced while he was at college in California. As the room continues to shake, her vision grew more and more spotty until she couldn’t see anything at all. She’s pretty sure her hands are shaking and maybe her legs are moving she can’t tell. The only thing that she knows for sure is that she made a huge mistake.


	2. Chapter 2

**Amy**  


Slowly her vision comes back to her. She’s still in bed tucked under the covers her head on the pillow. “Jake.” She whispers reaching across the bed for him. His back is turned to her which is usually abnormal. “Jake.” She says again grabbing him by the shoulding turning him towards her. She moves over enough that she is able to put her head on his chest and hold onto his arm.

“What’s wrong?” He asks and that’s when Amy bolts up out of the bed. The man laying in bed with her is not Jake and looking around this room she realizes that it’s not her room. “Amy?” The man asks. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t. I don’t.” she tried to choke out words but wasn’t even sure what she was supposed to say. 

“It’s okay baby.” the man said as he pulled her to him. She resisted at first but then was overpowered as he pulled her into him. Noah. His name was Noah. How she knew that she wasn’t sure but she knew that his name was Noah and that he was her husband. “It was just a bad dream.” he whispered smoothing her hair. “It’s alright everything is alright.” he repeated and it took everything in her not to scream that this wasn’t okay. This wasn’t her life. She wanted Jake. She _needed_ Jake.

It wasn’t long before Noah was fast asleep and Amy was able to slowly move herself out of his arms. She turned her back on him and stared at the wall. She couldn't do this. She couldn’t lay in bed with a man that wasn’t her husband.

She slowly got out of the bed, careful as to not wake the stranger sleeping next to her. She opened the only door in the room to the large bathroom. She closed the door behind her before turning on the light. The last thing that she wanted was for Noah to wake up. 

The light illuminated the bathroom that was full of stuff that didn’t belong to her. She glanced up at her reflection but was started by words written on the mirror in what appeared to be expo marker. She used to do that all the time at home if she was working and Jake wasn’t. Just simple reminders like take your meds or please go to the grocery store. 

This wasn’t a simple message though. This one seemed a little bit more dark and life altering. “You didn't believe me when I told you that you were going to be cursed. Therefore the only way you are able to escape this curse is to get your husband to admit that he believes you. You have on year, after that you will be stuck in this life forever..”

She grabbed the hand towel that was hanging by the sink and erased the message as fast as she could. This wasn’t real. This just wasn’t possible.

She sat down on the toilet seat and put her head between her hands. This wasn't real she repeated to herself for the thousandth time. Jake was going to wake her up any second now and hold her close and tell her this was just a bad dream. While making her pregnancy binder, she read that bad dreams can sometimes be more prevalent in pregnant women. This is all that is.

After drying her eyes with some toilet paper, she let the bathroom and headed out to the living room. It was spacious and there were huge windows that looked over farmland. There were no tall skyscrapers in sight and she was pretty sure she could see a thousand miles out. The sun was slowly creeping over the horizon as she sat down on the couch. It wouldn't be long before she was going to have to deal with this.

But all she could think about was Jake. Where was Jake and why wasn’t he here with her. Her brain was moving a thousand miles an hour and she was very aware of the body laying in the room next to her that was not her husbands. Well he was her husband. In this life. But he wasn’t _her_ husband.

Somehow hours passed by and soon the sun was present in the sky but she knew that she hadn’t slept. How could she sleep when Jake wasn’t here, when she was in Missouri and not New York. Soon, Noah’s alarm clock was going off and she could hear movement from the next room over. “Hey.” he said walking out into the living room wearing only sweatpants. She turned her head to avoid looking at him. This wasn’t right. “Missed you” he finished going into the kitchen and getting things out of the cabinets.

She stayed on the couch ignoring the urge to throw up. Did he have memories with her? She could hear him cooking from the kitchen. She wondered if he was as good of a cook as Jake was. Probably not.

“You okay?” Noah asked her grabbing a plate and piling it full of breakfast food. That’s when she finally decided that it was time to get up. She casually glanced around the kitchen while waiting for him to finish her plate.. “You were really freaked out last night. Bad dream?”

“Um sure.” Amy said not knowing how to tell him that he was not really her husband and that her real husband was somewhere else. And then it hit her like a brick. Jake didn’t remember her. Jake didn’t know who she was. 

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” She lied even though she was holding back tears. “I’m good.” She sat down at the table with the food. It was good food but like she thought Jake was better at cooking.

“You sure you’re good?” Noah asked her. “You’re awfully quiet. The memories aren’t coming back are they?”

“The memories?” Amy asked half confused. 

“You’ll tell me if they do right?” Noah asked a look of concern crossing her face. “So we can go to the doctor and get this taken care of before it gets really bad?”

Amy wracked her brain trying to figure out what he was talking about but she was coming up blank. “No.” She said. “They aren’t coming back and if they do you will be the first to know.”

“Good.” Noah said. “Good.” he repeated as Amy finished the food on her plate. 

“I’m going to run to the grocery store.” She said getting up and putting the plate in dishwasher. “Do you need anything?”

“No I think that I’m okay. Noah said. “If you want to just grab a thing of coke that would be great.”

“Of course.” Amy said grabbing her bag and her keys before getting out of the house as fast as she could. Out in the garage she got in a car that wasn’t hers and sat behind the wheel for a second, her hands hovering over her stomach. She was dreaming, she had to be dreaming. Any minute now she was going to wake up next to Jake. 

She put the car into the drive and drove to the grocery store. The fact that she knew exactly where to turn was terrifying to her. She had never been to Missouri and there was no logical explanation as to why she should know where the local grocery store is. 

She grabbed a basket and made her way straight towards the pharmacy aisle. She looked up and down the aisles until she found exactly what she was looking for. Her hands shook as she grabbed the first brand that she used when she found out that she was pregnant before. Then she grabbed two other ones just to make sure that the first one was accurate.

She then made her way to the beverage aisle grabbing a case of coke. After checking out she made her way straight towards the bathroom ripping open the box the second she closed the door. Her hands and legs were nervously shaking as she set the time on her phone. She was going to wake up. Any second now she was going to wake up. 

This was going to be okay. There was no possible explanation as to how Edgar would've taken away her child from her. That just wasn't possible. Then again, how was it possible that she woke up in rural Missouri next to a man she doesn't know?

The timer on her phone jarred her back to reality. The sound of the chimes made her spine tingle as she stared at the little stick. This was a dream she told herself as she flipped the stick over to reveal a negative sign. She stared at the tiny line until the tears started flowing. This was all dream. It was going to be okay. Her and Jake were having a baby in a mere seven months no matter what this stupid test said. So what if she wasn’t pregnant in this nightmare, She was pregnant in real life. 

She didn’t even bother doing the other pregnancy tests they were going to be negative. She quickly left the bathroom and went out to her car. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out to see that she had a new text message from a Tracey. "Hey! We're working the same flight from St.Louis to New York tomorrow. Can't wait to see you again! L.A to Tokyo was a such a blast!" Amy squinted down at the message trying to understand what any of that meant. The only thing that she knew for sure was the she was goin to New York tomorrow. Score for Amy she thought.

Amy then made her way home on the roads that felt way too familiar for comfort. She pulled into the driveway and took a deep breath. She could do this. Tomorrow she was going to be in New York. She would go the nine nine, find Jake and everything would be okay. Realistically speaking she was going to wake up in bed in his arms way before it even came to that point. So she took a deep breath and walked into the house that wasn't her house. Patiently waiting to wake up any minute now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I have gone back and made a few changes (the downfall of posting before the story is finished lol) Basically all that I changed is that Amy is not going to lose her memories. The more I thought about it, the less that it made sense, and it was kid of a last minute add in anyways. Sorry for any confusion!!! :)

**Jake**  


Jake woke up earlier in the morning then he prefered to even on a day when he had to work. He glanced at the tiny clock next to their bed that read 5:20 in the morning. He groaned in frustration at his stupid brain for waking him up at this ungodly hour. He then reached out across the mattress but was shocked to find that the sheets were cold. “Val?” he called out but there was no response.

He squinted across the room to where there was a little sliver of light that was coming from the bathroom. “Valerie?” He called getting up out of bed and making his way to the bathroom where she was throwing up. “Oh babe.” He whispered sitting down next to her and gathering her hair in his hands behind her hair. “It’s okay.” he whispered rubbing her back. “You should’ve woken me up.”

“You have work in like four hours.” Valerie said. “I didn’t want to wake you up. I can handle a little bit of nausea on my own.” Valerie said before another round of vomit hit her as she buried her head into the toilet bowl. “I’m fine. You can go back to bed.”

“Oh shut up.” Jake said to her. “I’m not going back to bed until you go back to bed. I don’t care if we have to sit here until my alarm goes off.”

“Seriously Jake. I’m fine.”

“Val.” Jake said. “I’m not leaving.”

“Thank you.” Valerie said after a moment leaning back into him. “You’re way too good for me.”

“Is what I say everyday I wake up with you next to me.” Jake countered. “I still can’t believe that you agreed to marry me and are having my baby.”

“I love you.” She said to him. “I think I’m feeling better if you want to go back to bed now.”

“Only if you are.”

“Alright.” Valerie said as Jake stood up and offered her his hand. “I’ve gotta brush my teeth.”

Jake nodded making his way back into their bedroom and crawling under their warm comforter. He started at the ceiling and listened to the sound of running water and her brushing her teeth. He was the luckiest guy on Earth and he still wasn’t sure what he did to deserve her. Valerie came walking out of the bathroom several minutes later climbing into bed next to him. 

Almost instantly he reached out for her and she responded by moving closer to him and snuggling up into his side. “I’m sorry that I woke you up.”

“I know you are, but I’m glad that you did. I want to be there with you every step of the way.”

“Even when I’m super fat and my feet are swollen and I start yelling at you because you bought me the wrong kind of chocolate or gave me a look that I didn’t like.”

“Especially then.” Jake replied. “I’m going to be here the entire time and not going to miss a single thing.”

“You’re the best baby daddy.”

“And you’re the best baby mommy.”

“Gross.” Valerie said. “Please don’t ever call me that again.”

“10-4, 10-4 Val.”

“Go back to sleep you idiot.” Valerie said before closing her eyes. It took Jake another minute to fall asleep as he listened to her breathing steady out his thumb rubbing small circles on her shoulder.

At some point he must have dozed off because he was awoken to the sound of his alarm clock. He turned it off as quickly as he could've making sure to not wake up Valerie as he crawled out of the warm bed and changed into his work attire. 

He stayed there for a minute in their bedroom doorway watching her sleep. She looked so utterly peaceful and tranquil that all he wanted to do was go and crawl back in bed with her. He wanted to freeze this moment right here, standing there watching her sleep. He wasn’t a perv, it’s just that she was so beautiful when she slept. 

Stil he knew that he couldn’t be late for work. She would be so ticked at him if she found out that he was late for work because he was standing there watching her sleep. So he took one last look at his gorgeous sleeping wife before leaving the comfort of their home and heading to the nine nine.

By the time he got to the nine nine, he was only five minutes late, a vast improvement then the several days prior. And it didn’t take long after that before he was being dragged out into the field with Charles.

The two of them walked down the busy New York streets following closely behind the perp that they had suspected of drug dealing. “Genevieve is so tired of being pregnant.” Charles said. “She can not wait for our daughter to be born.” Jake smiled to himself to try and stop himself from telling Charles that it wouldn't be long before that was Valerie. “I’m so excited to meet her. Nickolaji is too, he says that he’s going to the best big brother.”

“That’s sweet.” Jake said smiling to himself thinking about him and Valerie having multiples kids someday. 

“When are you and Valerie going to start trying?” Charles asked. Jake knew it was coming the second that Charles mentioned Genevieve. Little did Charles know that they were probably going to have kids in the same grade. He was going to die when he finds out. “I mean you’ve been married for almost two years.”

“We’re taking it slow.” Jake lied. “There’s nothing wrong with waiting for a little while. We’re still enjoying married life just the two of us.”

“Oh come on. I know that you want to have a kid. Why don’t you just tell her that you’re ready to start trying. Odds are that she is too.”

“You know.” Jake said smiling at the ground. “We have started talking about it.” he concluded ignoring Charles small scream of excitement. “I don’t know if it’s going to happen anytime soon.” he lied of course he knew exactly when it was going to happen. “But we have discussed it and not that it’s any of your business but I think that we are going to start trying.”

“Oh Jakey!” Charles exclaimed. “This is the most exciting news I will hear all day.”

“Yeah.” Jake said. “But how about we just keep this between me and you. And whatever you do do not tell Valerie that I told you. She will kill me and then there will be no kids at all.”

“Understood.” Charles said. “I’m just so happy for you!” He exclaimed grabbing Jake by the shoulder. “You’re going to be a papa just like me.”

“Eventually.” Jake reminded him still smiling because Charles was right. He was going to be a father in almost seven months. 

\-----

“Valerie!” Jake shouted walking into their house with take out bags in his hands. “Are you ready to eat?”

“Yeah!” Valerie shouted from the bedroom. “I’ll be right in there.” Jake grabbed several plates from the cabinets and set them up on the table. He liked to eat in front of the tv but he knew that Valerie would want to sit at the table and then watch tv afterwards. When he was single the idea of eating at the table was sickening, but now eating at the table and just getting to talk to her was more than he could ever ask for.

“Val!” He shouted again. “The food is going to get cold.”

“I’m coming.” She shouted again but this time he heard footsteps from down the hall that got louder until she was standing right there in the kitchen with him. She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss against his lips before sitting down in front of the plate of food that Jake had set out for her. “Awesome. This is exactly what I wanted.”

“Great!” Jake said smiling as he sat down across from her. “How was your day”

“Pretty uneventful.” Valerie said “I didn't really do too much. I only went to the grocery store, and the mall, I got a bunch of really cute maternity tops. I got lunch with Kylie. Stopped by my brother’s house to help him put up his christmas tree and then come back here.”

“That’s pretty uneventful?” Jake asked his mouth hanging half open. “Val I couldn’t even do all that on twelve hours of sleep and three red bulls. You did all that while pregnant and waking up at 5 in the morning to puke.”

“It’s not been that bad.” Valerie said rolling her eyes. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “And then I added more to the pregnancy binder. I can’t wait to show it to you after we eat.”

“And I can’t wait to see it.” Jake said smiling at his wife. Soon they were done eating and sitting on their living room floor the tv playing an episode of property brothers that had been long muted and forgotten about. 

“So it’s arranged by each month and then there are sub tabs for each section of each month. Did you know that right now a third of our baby is it’s head. He or she is only a inch long. Tiny Jake. So tiny.”

“Yeah well we still have seven months to go, he’s going to be much larger by then.”

“Or she.” Valerie corrected him. “They are starting to develop bones instead of the cartilage and there tiny little arms and feet are starting to develop. One website even said that the baby will start moving around although I won’t be able to feel it yet.”

“When do babies start kicking.”

“Oh I am so excited for that. I bet it feels so weird.” Valerie said before flipping to month 5 in the binder. “Around month five is when the baby may start to kick. It’s supposed to feel like butterflies.” Valerie said.

“Promise me that you will wake me up or call me the second he or she starts to kick.”

“I promise.” Valerie said laughing and resting her head on his shoulder. “I know that it’s so early but I am so excited to meet this little bundle of joy.”

“Me too Val.” Jake agreed draping his arms across her shoulder. “This is really thorough.”

“Creager style.” Valerie said and Jake only laughed.

“I really hope that our baby is just like you because if they are like me they are screwed.” Jake said and Valerie shock her head.

“No that’s not true.” She said. “If they were like you they would be so intelligent. I know that you don’t think that you’re smart but you are. They would be so loving and caring that it’s almost sickening. It doesn't matter. The perfect kid would be a mix of the our best qualities.”

“True dat.” Jake agreed. “If our dna is split exactly in half we are going to have one baller kid. I just hope they don’t get my nose.” he said as Valerie reached up to trace it laughing. 

“You’re such a dork.” he shrugged as he stood up from the floor and offered Valerie his hand. “Are you ready to go to bed?”

“You know it.” Valerie said grabbing his hand and as he helped to her feet. The two of them made their way to their bedroom where they laid down together in bed. “I can't imagine life without you anymore” 

“Me neither Val. It’s been like that for a while now.”

“I know.” Valerie said. “But I was thinking this morning about how much has changed since I first met you.” She said. “I mean when we were first assigned as partner I seriously hated your guts.”

“Oh don’t lie.” Jake said. “You had the biggest crush on me from the second that you laid eyes on me.”

“I thought that you were attractive but then you started talking and just like that it all disappeared out the window. But slowly over time you grew on me to the point where I considered you a friend. Maybe even a best friend but I would never admit it to your face.”

“I considered you my best friend too.”

“Yeah but you started like liking me sooner that I did. It took me way too long to realize that I liked you and that I wanted to be with you.”

“Yeah but you figured it out. That’s all that counts.”

“I guess.” Valerie said. “I know that it’s just hormones or whatever but I actually cried this morning in the shower thinking about what might have happened had you been sentenced to fifteen years in prison.” She said swallowing hard and trying not to cry. “I mean that would’ve put our life on a major hold.”

“Yeah but that didn’t happen. There’s no point in worrying about something that didn’t happen. They caught Hawkins, everything worked out.” 

“Okay true.” Valerie agreed. “But I feel like the two of us just get lucky at every turn. I mean think about Florida. What if Figgis had threatened you and somebody else? Then I wouldn't have gotten to go down to Florida with you and we would’ve been separated for six months can you imagine how horrible that would've been. We would've missed our one year anniversary.”

“Yeah, it would’ve been awful, but it didn’t happen.” Jake said. “Instead we got to spend an entire six months in paradise pretending to be married.”

“Yeah but what if-”

“Val.” Jake said interrupting her. “I love you and your overthinking everything brain so much, but you’ll drive yourself insane if you think about the what ifs. We are here, we are together and happy and expecting a baby that’s all that matters. It doesn't matter how we did or didn't get here.”

“I guess that you’re right.”

“I am.” Jake agreed. “Can we please go to bed and I’m exhausted and I find it hard to believe that you are not.”

“Yeah.” Valerie said standing up from the floor. “Let’s go.”

“Thank you.” Jake said following his wife back to their bedroom. It wasn’t long before he felt the bed dip down and the covers were pulled away from. “Hey!”

“Pregnant.” Was all she said and Jake wanted to argue but he also knew that he would lose if he tried. “Goodnight. I love you.”

“I love you too.” He said staring at the ceiling. He listened to her breathing slowly even out before he glanced over at her. How she fell asleep that fast always amazed him. Eventually he found himself curled up against her, her breath tickling his neck as he slowly drifted off the sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Gina**

Gina slowly opened her eyes blinking several times trying to adjust to the bright light. When her eyes were finally open she realized that she was laying in a hospital bed. There were flowers on the table next to her and balloons in the corner. 

Within minutes of being conscious a doctor and a nurse come into the room. The doctor gives her a warm smile while the nurse looks over her charts. “Gina!” The doctor said. “So glad to see that you are awake.”

“What happened?” Gina asked her voice scratchy. Her eyes were still trying to adjust to the light that seemed like it was far brighter than it should’ve been.

“You fell down a flight of stairs, do you remember falling?

“No.” Gina said her eyebrows knitting together. The last thing that she remembered was that earthquake. She didn’t even know that New York could have earthquakes. Probably something they talked about in highschool but the only thing she remembered about high school was the boys she flirted with and the girls she didn’t get along with.

“Ah that doesn't surprise me. You hit your head pretty hard when you fell. Now usually we would not admit a patient into the hospital for that. However your parents said that you were having hallucinations.”

“I was at my parents house?” Gina asked. She didn’t remember going to their house. She remembered watching tv on her couch when the ground started to shake. She was convinced that her entire apartment building was going to collapse but she didn’t remember being at her parents house.

“Yes. You were at your parents house.” the doctor said taking the charts from the nurse. “They said that when they asked if you were okay you asked them who they were. They said that you did not seem to recognize them. Your mom told us that you repeatedly asked where Milton was and if Iggy was okay? Your parents have no idea who either of those two people are.”

Gina her heart rate nearly double in the speed and the machine that monitored it started going crazy. “Where am I?” She asked although she was afraid to find out.

“Portland Maine.” The doctor said a concerned look on her face. “We’re going to go through some simple procedures here to test you for a concussion as you seem to still being hallucinating.”

Gina didn’t say anything as the doctor did a couple of basic tests. “I’m going to put in an order for an mri so we can really get to the bottom of this” The doctor said. “Also your parents are here, I’m going to send them your way.” The doctor and the nurse left and moments later there were two strangers in the doorway.

“Oh Gina.” the woman said making her way towards Gina’s bed. She sat down in the chair and took Gina’s hand. She tried not to flinch away, she had to get out of here, back to New York and the best way to do that was probably act like everything was normal. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” Gina said as the man who she assumed was her fake father made his way over to the other side of the bed.

“You really scared us today.” he said to her. “We thought that you might have really hurt yourself.”

“I’m fine.” Gina replied. “Just really tired. They ordered an mri.” she added. 

“I just hope this doesn't get in the way of your attendance for school tonight. That one professor said that if you didn’t show up you wouldn't pass.” _night school?_ Gina thought. So she was definitely going to be leaving for New York before she was forced to do that. 

“I doubt that I’m going to be able to drive myself there with whatever medication they are going to give me.” Gina said smiling at her great excuse. She really was a genius. Just like Kanye.

“Drive yourself?” Her “Father” asked. “You can’t drive yourself period. I’m telling you Jolene she needs to get a driver's license. She far old enough and responsible. Maybe if you let her get a drivers license than she wouldn’t still be living at home.” So maybe her fake father wasn’t as off to her real father as she originally suspected. At least he was still here. 

“And I’ve told you, she doesn't need a driver's license. She is perfectly fine staying at home with us aren’t you Gina.”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Gina said. There was no way that she was going home with these people. Portland has an airport right? She would have to google that later. And figure out how to pay for said airplane ticket. Maybe she could just drive. It was only like a ten hour drive. She wasn’t exactly sure where Portland was if she was being honest as the only time that she had left New York was to go down to Florida for Jake. The point is, it didn’t matter how she got there but by the time that the sun was rising she needed to be in New York.

She slowly got out of bed and made her way to the tiny little hospital bathroom. When she glanced at her reflection she was startled by the bold black writing reading “You've been a bully your entire life. Self absorbed is the only world that I can think of to describe you. I always assumed that you must have changed since highs cool but I guess it's true that some people really don't change. To break this curse you have to do one nice thing for someone else without thinking of yourself. You have one year before you are stuck here forever. Shouldn't be that hard right?” _Fun_ she thought wiping it off with a piece of toilet paper. At least she still looked like her gorgeous self she thought.

“Gina?” A nurse asked popping her head into the room. “Are you ready for your mri?” Gina nodded as the nurse came in and started wheeling the bed out of the room and down the hall. She could still hear her parents arguing as they continued down the hall.

The nurse helped her into the machine, and she took a deep breath as she was pushed backwards into the machine. She wasn’t claustrophobic like Amy. Amy would be dying if she was in here right now. Despite everything she couldn’t help but smile about Amy freaking out about this. “Gina. We’re just going to need you to hold super still. The scan should take about an hour.”

“Okay.” Gina said before the music that she had queued up started playing through the headphones. She closed her eyes continuing to think about getting back to New York and heading straight towards the nine nine. 

\-----

_Gina sat at her desk scrolling through buzzfeed. It’s been kind of a slow day. Even Instagram was boring her today and that never happened. She glanced up for a split second at all the detectives who were working trying to get their paperwork done before five or trying to chase some new lead. It was all the same. Every single day._

_That’s when Amy got off the elevator with a perp who Gina knew. She just didn't know how she knew him. It was one of those things were you see him and you just know that you know him and that the reason you know him is nothing good._

_Gina watched the guy walk in with Amy. She looked him up and down. How did she know him? That’s when she locked eyes with him, and she could tell that he was thinking the same thing that she was. Except he knew exactly how he knew her._

_She dropped her gaze back to her phone. This is what happens when you try and engage with the real world. Nothing good can come out of not being attached to your phone she thought._

_Even as she tried to go through Twitter she found that she was just staring blankly at her phone still trying to figure out where she knew him from. Maybe he was a one night stand at some bar. Although judging by the looks of him she must’ve been pretty drunk that night. Then again at one point she had been drunk enough to sleep with Charles so it isn't completely out of the question. Maybe he was some boy from high school who she only saw in passing. Maybe he was someone from college. She had no idea._

_Amy walked past her desk and straight into Holt’s office closing the door behind her, that’s when she looked back up at the man. Amy walked back out moments later uncuffing the guy and putting him into holding while she hurried off into the evidence locker._

_Gina shrugged her shoulders. Oh well. She wasn’t going to lose any sleep over not knowing this guy, so it wasn’t worth it to her right now. That is until he called her from the holding cell. “Gina Linetti!”_

_He startled her so much that she almost dropped her phone. Luckily she caught it in her lap before it hit the ground. Lucky her. Milton was not going to be happy if she were to break another phone. She slipped her phone into her pocket heading over the holding cell where the guy was standing as close to the glass as he could. “Do you know me?”_

_She was quiet for a minute. “I know that I do, but I’m just not sure how.”_

_He laughed and she swore that sound was going to haunt in her nightmares. “Of course you don’t.” He said with a small smirk. “I was the magician kid in fourth grade. The one who sat right next to you in Mrs.Bentley's class.”_

_“Oh!” Gina exclaimed. “You were the one that brought a dead dove to school and tried to give it to me.” She said with small shiver. She had pretty much tried to block that day out. But now she remembered it clear as day. He told her that he liked her and then offered her a dead dove. When she told him that she wasn’t interested he used her brand new nice scissors that her mom had gotten her to chop the doves head completely off. He then proceeded to leave it on her desk. It was horrifying to say the least. “Edgar Wright?”_

_“Oh so you do know my name?” He asked almost tauntingly which was ironic considering that he was the one on the other end of the jail cell. “Can I ask you a question?”_

_“I guess.” Gina said._

_“If I were to ask you out right now would you say.”_

_Gina laughed before she could stop herself. “No.” She said. “I’m married with a daughter and much like in fourth grade, I’m not interested dead dove.” She said all of a sudden remembering all those days on the playground when he would chase her and her friends around trying to kiss them. Looking back he really was pretty gross. That’s why they had taken to calling him dead dove. And since Gina had created the nickname, it didn’t take long for the entire school to start calling him that._

_“You’re going to regret the way you treated me in elementary school.” Edgar said “I already told detective Santiago that she was going to be cursed but I think that I may add you into it.”_

_“You’re going to curse me?” Gina asked him. “Dude don’t you think it’s about time you gave magic up for good?”_

_“Oh he’s going to curse you too?” Amy asked walking up to Gina her bag slung over her shoulder. “He’s a druggie. There’s nothing to worry about.” She said before walking away and out of the precinct._

_\----_

“There’s nothing to worry about.” rung clear in her ear much louder than the mri that was taking pictures of her brain. There’s nothing to worry about. Poor stupid naive Amy. Gina wondered where she was right now. Probably Alaska, she would hate the cold and how remote it is. 

So Milton, Iggy and everybody from the nine nine doesn't remember her? So what? She can fix this. She can thrive in the chaos. She can do this. It’s what she does best. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for clarification in case you didn't see my message on the last chapter, the girls are not going to lose their memories. The message on Amy's mirror basically just told her that she's needs to get Jake to admit that he believes her or she's going to be stuck. Again I am so sorry for any confusion :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Amy**

“Ladies and gentlemen we are now descending towards New York. The local time is 10:34 am and the temperature is 60 degrees.” Amy said into the loud speaker. She still couldn’t believe that she knew how to be a flight attendant. How was this even possible, she should be out chasing bad guys, and looking cool doing it as Jake would say, not asking people what kind of drink they want and collecting trash. “At this time we ask that you return your trays to the upright position and buckle your seatbelts as we will be landing in approximately ten minutes.”

Amy grabbed her trash bag and made one more trip down the aisle checking to make sure everyone did as they were told. Afterwards she buckled herself into the her seat and patiently waited for the wheels to hit the runway. She had all day in New York. All day to go the nine nine and find Jake. She still firmly believed that she was going to wake up before that. 

The wheels hitting the ground jared her out of her thoughts. She was home. Well _almost_ home. After it was safe passengers slowly began to exit the aircraft. Amy always hated how slow it took people to keep moving. If they would just be patient instead of all rushing up to the front, things would work out a lot better. 

Flight attendants were one of the last people off the plane. “Your hotel card.” Someone said to her as she entered the main terminal of the airport. She took the card. Marriott attached the airport. The airport is in Queens. _Great._

She dropped her bags off in the hotel room before heading out onto the busy streets. It took her way too long to get ten miles across town to Brooklyn, but that was New York for you. The ride there felt like forever while somehow feeling like the fastest taxi on Earth. The taxi came to a stop and Amy steped out onto the street. After paying the cab, which was ridiculously expensive, and thanking the driver she was left standing on the street looking up at the building she had spent so much of her life in. 

She pushed open the large double doors and the smell of coffee and papers hit her like a brick. She closed her eyes trying to soak it all in. She was here. She was going to find Jake and beat this stupid curse and then of course she was going to wake up. She started up the stairs towards the detectives floor where she knew all of her friends would be when a uniformed officer stopped her. “I’m sorry ma’am this floor is for personnel only.”

“Oh.” Amy said taken aback. Of course she knew that but she just assumed that she was going to be able to get up there. No one has ever stopped her before. “I’m actually here to see a detective.”

“Which one?” The man who’s name tag read Shelly asked. There wasn't a Shelly on her squad, he must be new or something.

“Jake Peralta.” She said “I have an identity theft case and he’s the detective working it. He wanted to talk to me.” 

The officer looked at her for a second and Amy held her breath. She was not used to lying to cops, let alone lying at all. He could make or break her whole plan here. Not to mention how expensive the cab ride was. She had a lot riding on this. “Okay. I’m sorry for questioning you like that. It’s just this is a police precinct, can't be too careful.”

“No! Of course not!” Amy said with a slight laugh before making her way the rest of the way up the stairs. The bullpen looked the exact same as it had when she left it. The only difference being that Gina’s desk was completely cleared. She frowned at it for a second wondering where Gina was in this curse land, had she done something to Edgar as well? He did say that he was going to curse her, but Amy had no idea why.

She looks around the bullpen. The captain is in his office, it takes everything in Amy to not go running to him and beg him to remember her, maybe he could help her out. Rosa was sitting at her desk working quietly on paperwork. Hitchcock and Scully were both seated throwing marshmallows at each other and trying to catch them. The only two people that were missing were Jake and Charles because _of course_ they were in the field right now.

“Can I help you?” A male voice asked and Amy jumped slightly turning around the see the sergeant standing behind her. 

“Terry.” Amy said to the man.

“I’m sorry. Do I know you?”

Amy was taken aback a second. Of course Terry didn’t know her. Nobody seemed to know her just like Edgar said they would. It was like all those years were just erased from everyone’s mind. Her heart ached thinking of Jake not remembering her. “No sorry. I just um saw your name on your desk. Do you happen to know where detective Peralta is?”

“Which one?” Terry asked her and Amy felt like her heart was going to shatter inside her chest. There was still more than one Peralta at the nine nine.

“Um Jake.” Amy said hoping that her voice did not sound as weak as she felt. She was not going to cry in front of all of her co-workers even if they didn’t know that they worked with her.

“It looks like he’s gone right now.” Terry said glancing over at Jake’s desk. “Can I take a message?”

“No.” Amy said. “It’s okay I really need to talk to him. So I’ll come back later.” She said before making her way to the elevator and out of the building. The sun was still high in the sky which meant that she had at least a couple of hours before she had to go back to the hotel. The next morning was an early morning flight to London that she was really dreading. She just wanted to stay here in New York.

The first place that she goes is their house. _Her old house_ she thinks. From the outside it looks the exact same that it did when she fell asleep in bed that night. She smiled to herself remembering when her and Jake toured it with the realtor. They had decided that they wanted to start trying for kids and that the first thing they should do was a buy a house. 

It was a small little house in the suburbs. There was a tiny bit of grass in the front and back yard but enough that Amy would consider it a yard. She had imagined their kids playing in the yard as the snow melted and winter turned to spring. The house was perfect in so many different ways. Three bedroom, which at the time was perfect for their little family. The master bedroom, the nursery and a guest room for whenever family _or Charles_ decided to stay over. 

The selling point of the house however, according to Jake, was the movie theater built into the basement. When they walked down the stairs and saw that, Amy knew for sure that this was the house that Jake was going to want. “Babe this would be so awesome to watch Die Hard in!” he had practically yelled into her ear. 

She stayed parked outside the house for at least twenty minutes trying to figure out what she was doing. There wasn’t any cars in the driveway and it’s not like she could just walk in. She could be that person who walked around the outside looking through windows but she wasn’t going to be a stalker. Then again it was her life that she was stalking. Nope she can’t do that. The neighbors may call the police. And the next time she walks into the nine nine she would prefer it not be handcuffs. So she drove to the next location she could think of.

That’s how she ended up sitting on the roof from the bet over the industrial part of Brooklyn. It wasn’t that long ago that she was here with Jake but oh how so much has changed. She used to always love this place, it made her feel so calm and peaceful, but that wasn’t exactly what she was feeling right now. 

Right now she was feeling like the world was slowly crumbling around her. She arrested one guy and now none of her friends remembered her. _You’re dreaming_ she reminded herself for the thousandth time that day. Yet it was beginning to feel less like a dream. Everything just felt so damn real. The way her heart beated so fast in her chest when she saw someone she knew and the way it seemed to stop beating entirely when they looked at her with a blank stare. They don't know her anymore, she was just another civilian who wandered into the precinct. Some damsel in distress who they were supposed to rescue. That's all that she was to them right now. Just some small town Missouri girl who made her way to big ol New York City and needed a little help. Amy felt like she could throw up.

She glanced at her watch, it had been several hours, maybe Jake was at the nine nine by now. It took her far less time to get back and soon she was standing at the gates of the bullpen her heart in her throat. Terry was gone at this point as was Rosa and the captain. However, Charles was sitting at his desk filling out paperwork and singing along to some song she didn’t know.

“Excuse me.” She asked walking up to him. “Do you know where detective Peralta is?” Amy asked. She mentally crossed her finger, please let him just be in the evidence room. Please let him walk out here any second and notice me. 

“He went home. I’m sorry. How do you know him?”

“We went to highschool together.” Amy lied trying not to wince. She read online one time that if you're going to lie, you should stick to the same one. Less room for error.

“Can I take a note?”

“Uh?” Amy said before grabbing a napkin and a pen off his desk. She scribbled down her phone number and the words call me urgent on it. “No, I got it. Thank you.” She said making her way over to his desk. To her relief his desk was just a messy as she remembered it. Actually it looked the exact same. She threw the napkin down on his keyboard where there was no way that he would miss it. Just as she started to leave, a picture stuck to his monitor caught her attention. 

She reached out grabbing the small picture. It was him and a girl on their wedding day. The girl was pretty, she looked like she could be a model. Amy tried not to laugh how even in this curse he ended up with a Latina. She wanted to move, she wanted to put the picture down and walk away, but her feet were rooted in their place and her eyes would not move away from the tiny picture. He looked so happy with a woman that wasn't her. He looked like he was in love.

There was a coughing from somewhere in the precinct startling Amy out of her daze. She stuffed the picture into the pocket of her cardigan before leaving the precinct. She knew that it was stealing, but she didn't care. He was her husband, so what if she took a picture off of his desk. She then hurried out of the bullpen before anyone would notice. That seemed like the kind of thing that Charles would notice.

The cab ride back to Queens felt a lot shorter than the one going to Brooklyn and the entire time that picture felt like it was burning a hole in her pocket. Every time she blinked she saw his _wife_ and the look that he was giving her. The one that she knew all too well. The _she’s my dream girl_ look. 

The hotel room felt so much smaller than it did when she had arrived earlier in the morning. Now it felt stuffy as if the walls were closing in on her. She pulled her laptop out of her bag and set it down on the desk. She set the picture down right next to it.

She wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted to know. Maybe living in bliss would be better than knowing. But the not knowing was gnawing away at her to a degree that she had never experienced before. So she booted up her computer and the internet, her fingers flying over the keyboard at lightning speed.

It wasn’t that hard to find Jake’s social media accounts as she knew exactly what his username was. _Jake Peralta married to Valerie Peralta._ Amy slammed the computer shut so hard that she wasn’t sure that it didn’t shatter her glass. 

The words were practically burned into her eyelids as she closed them and put her head in her hands. She didn’t want to cry. She really didn’t want to cry. He was her husband. Jake loved her. Jake was married to her not this Valerie girl. She really didn’t want to cry, but she was starting to realize that she may never wake up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Jake**

“Tonight’s the big night.” Valerie said lacing her fingers into Jake’s as he drove to the nine nine. “I am so excited for our family to finally know. They are going to be so excited.”

“I know!” Jake beamed glancing over at her. “I just hope that our parents get along. And that your dad doesn't kill me.”

“Why would he kill you?”

“I don’t know because you’re his only daughter. He’s honestly terrifying Val.”

“He comes on a little strong but he loves you and he loves that you make me happy so you have nothing to worry about.” 

“You sure?” Jake asked as he parked their brand new suv in a parking spot. 

“I’m positive.” Valerie said. “Now hurry up and get out or we’re going to be late and you know what Charles will think that we’re doing.” Jake got out of the car and followed his wife into the building. When they parted ways, she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. “Be safe. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Jake responded as she turned away from him and headed into her bullpen full of beat cops. She only worked one floor under him but sometimes he felt like she might as well have worked all the way in Manhattan. He missed being able to sit across from her, glancing up at her if he was having a bad day and everything was better. Now he had to walk down a flight of stairs. The horror.

Jake sat down at his desk and started his computer. There was already paperwork sitting on his desk, so it was going to be one of those days he thought to himself. That was when he noticed it. The picture of him and Val on their wedding was gone. He opened and closed several drawers looking for it. He didn’t remember moving it. It was his favorite picture. The two of them laughing after the ceremony. Every time he saw it, he couldn't help but smile. It was the second best thing to sitting across from her. And now it was gone.

“Hey Charles?” Jake asked feeling panic rise up in his chest. It was only a picture and he didn’t even have it framed yet it meant so much to him. “Have you seen the picture of me and Valerie at our wedding?”

“Yeah.” Charles said walking towards Jake’s desk. “It put life back into my soul.”

“No I mean like have you _seen_ it?” Jake asked. “I can’t find it.”

“I haven’t.” Charles said. “But I know that Valerie really liked that picture. She probably took it for herself. "

Jake nodded. That made sense. He did know that Valerie liked it and if she wanted it then she could have it. He didn’t care if it made her happy to look at it. She could have anything she wanted as long as she was happy.

He starts moving things around on his desk trying to figure out what he needs to do. That's when he notices the napkins siting on top of his keyboard. 

He picked up the napkin noticing that it had some writing on it. Amy Santiago, call me and urgent was written in red sharpie. As soon as he read her name, he felt the floor drop from underneath him. He closed his eyes and grabbed onto his desk as he felt like he continuing to fall. When he was finally able to open his eyes, he was sitting right where he was when he first grabbed the napkin. 

His heart was beating in his chest so fast that he thought he may have a heart attack. _What was that?_ “Did you feel that?” Jake asked the bullpen. Rosa glanced up from her desk but didn't say anything. Typical. 

“Feel what?” Terry finally asked.

“I don’t know how to describe it. It felt like the floor just disappeared and I was falling.”

“Nope.” Terry said. “Didn’t feel that.”

“It was like one of those dreams where you are falling in your dream and then you wake up and you’re still falling.”

“I love those kind of dreams.” Rosa shouted from the other side of precinct.

“Of course you do.” Jake said turning the napkin over in his hands again to look at the handwriting. it was far more neat than his. Actually the more he looked at it, the more similarities to Valerie's writing he saw. It looked as if Valerie had written the note, that’s how identical it was. “Did anyone happen to see who put this napkin on my desk?” Jake asked.

Charles walked over and looked at the napkin. “It looks like Valerie did.”

He looked down at the napkin again and noticed that the number written was indeed Valerie’s cell phone number. “But why would she write Amy Santiago call me urgent on it?”

“You know I saw this in movie one time where the guy’s real wife was being impersonated by a demon-” Scully tried to say before getting cut off

“I’m going to go ask Valerie about it.” Jake said grabbing the napkin and heading downstairs. He scratched the top of his head trying to figure out what that falling feeling was. There was a slight ringing in his ears ever since he felt that and he needed it go away. “Val?” Jake asked stepping off the elevator and heading towards her desk. He dropped the napkin on top of the case that she was working on. “Can you explain this to me?”

He watched her grab the napkin and read the message her facial expression changing slightly as she read the name. He wondered if she also felt like the floor was falling out from underneath her feet. “Where did you get this?” She asked and there was a sense of urgency in her voice that he had never quite heard from her before.

“Someone left it on my desk. Was it not you?”

“Oh.” Valerie said her trademark smile coming back. The one that he fell in love with all those years ago. “Yeah I did. I thought it would be funny at the time. Pregnancy.” She said shrugging her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.” She grabbed the napkin and threw it away for him. Jake then headed back up to his desk trying to ignore the strange feeling in his gut that something wasn’t quite right. 

\-----

“They are going to be here in two hours Jake.” Valerie said to him from the kitchen where she was starting to get food ready. “You need to get dressed.”

“Val!” Jake said with a slight laugh making his way into the kitchen and wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. He nuzzled lips to her neck smiling slightly at the little laugh she let out. “It’s two hours babe. I think that I can get dressed before they get here.”

“You know that my parents are always exactly on time.” Valerie said moving back towards their stove. Jake let go of her and let her go.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Jake asked looking down at his stained shirt that was a size too small and way to baggy sweat pants.

“Where to begin.” Valerie said eying him up and down.

“Please.” Jake said waving his hand in the air. “You know you want some of this.” She bit on her bottom lip slightly. “Oh my gosh!” Jake exclaimed. “I was joking.” Valerie's face immediately went red. “But hey no judging.”

“Pregnancy hormones.” She said.

“You play the pregnancy card way too much.” Jake said walking back over ot her resuming his position with his arms around her and kissing down the back of her neck.

“Well.” Valerie said. “When you are carrying a baby that you will have push out of your vagina in nine months you would be playing the pregnancy card a lot too.” She said.

“I know.” Jake said. “I was just joking. I think that it’s incredibly brave, cool.” He said punctuating each world with a kiss. “Strong, sexy” 

“You think that this is sexy?” Valerie asked him. “Because I don’t feel very sexy.”

“Well you should.” Jake said. “Because yeah I think that it is sexy. You’re literally growing our baby. Keeping him or her safe and warm. I wish that I could do it.” he finished. 

“You’re going to make me cry.” Valerie said swatting him away. “Go change and do something with your hair. Also deodorant wouldn’t hurt.”

“Harsh.” Jake said before leaving her alone and making his way back to their bedroom. Valerie had laid clothes out on the bed that she planned on him wearing, so he quickly changed before heading into the bathroom and fixing his hair. And she was not lying when she said that he needed to deodorant he noted before putting some on.

Just as he was about to leave their room, true to their word the Creager’s rang the doorbell, meanwhile his parents wouldn’t be here for at least another twenty minutes. Jake quickly went to the door flinging it open for his in laws. “Hi!” Valerie's mother, Camila said as Jake opened the door. “We’re so glad that you guys invited us up for dinner.” She said as her and her husband Victor made their way into the house, stopping by the door to take off their shoes.

They made their way into the dining room where Valerie had already set out all the food. Valerie said hello to each of her parents, giving them a hug and smiling a knowing smile to Jake. They were going to be grandparents, they just didn’t know it. About ten minutes after the told meeting time, the doorbell rang again and Jake opened it to both of his parents. 

They then all sat down at the dining room table putting plenty of food onto their plates. Jake did the majority of the cooking he would never let Valerie make food for all of their family. That would be a disaster. He smiled to himself thinking of Thanksgiving dinners someday for more than just two people.

The two families made small talk, talking about various things that they’ve been doing. His parents just got back from a vacation to the Dominican Republic where as Valerie's parents are driving out to see her brother, Max who lives in Ohio, on Monday. 

Soon the conversation had died down and he felt Valerie reach under the table and grab onto his hand. He gave an affectionate squeeze while she cleared her throat. “Mom, Dad, Roger, Karen.” Valerie said. “We have some exciting news to share.” She smiled over at him and he returned the same genuine smile. “We are expecting a baby this March.”

Both their parents opened their mouths in shock. “Oh my gosh!” Camila exclaimed. “We’re going to be grandparents!” She said looking over to Victor who shared her same energetic response.

“Congratulations you guys!” Roger said. “Having a kid is one of the best experiences in life. There’s nothing like it.”

“We’re so happy for you guys and can not wait to meet him or her.” Karen said a wide smile on her face. Jake smiled to himself. Why was he so nervous about tonight? Of course everyone is going to be happy.

“How long have you guys known?” Victor asked.

“About seven weeks.” Valerie said looking over to Jake for conformation. He nodded once as she gave his hand a small squeeze. 

“We’ve heard the heartbeat.” Jake said.

“Jake cried.” Valerie commented a teasing smile on her face as she looked over at him.

“It was a big day!” Jake said trying to defend himself although there was no reason to. He was perfectly fine admitting that his eyes got a little watery when he heard his baby's heart beating. _His baby._

“Don’t worry Jake.” Victor said. “I cried with each kid. It happens. Camilia also made fun of me, but I don’t really care.”

“Thank you!” Jake said. “It’s a normal reaction.”

“You didn't’ see me crying.” Valerie said under her breath but still loud enough that Jake could hear it.

“That’s because you cried the entire way there. There were no tears left to cry by the time we made it to the appointment.” Jake said and Valerie shrugged her shoulders. After answering what felt like a thousand more pregnancy questions, everyone was done eating and heading towards the door to go their separate ways.

“Thank you so much for dinner.” Karen said putting on her coat. “I still can’t believe that we’re going to be grandparents.” She said hugging Jake and Valerie goodbye. Roger did the same before the two of them headed outside leaving only Jake, Valerie and her parents.

“You know you’ve made Julio’s day.” Camila said and Valerie gave her a questioning look. “All of your brother had money riding on when you were going to decide to have a baby and Julio said that it would probably happen in spring of next year.”

“Great.” Valerie said in a dramatic tone that Jake knew all too well. “I love that you guys were betting over when our child is going to be born.”

“You think that the nine nine doesn't have a similar pot going?” Jake asked.

“Oh shut up.” Valerie said punching him in the shoulder.

“Well.” Victor said. “You guys take care. And we will be calling soon. Also we would love to have another dinner. You guys need to come by some time to tell your brother the news yourself”

“Of course!” Valerie agreed. 

“Yay!” Jake mocked exclaimed as Valerie shut the door. 

“It won't’ be that bad.” Valerie said heading back in the the dining room to clean up dishes. Jake grabbed a couple of plates to try. “I think tonight went really well.”

“Me too.” Jake agreed putting the plates in the dishwasher. “I can’t wait until it’s March.” Valerie shrugged her shoulders. “What you can?”

“I don’t know.” Valerie said. “I mean I want to meet him or her so badly, but, and don’t make fun of me, these nine months are really the only time in their life where I can guarantee their safe.”

“God you’re going to be such a great mother.” Jake said wrapping his arms around and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I get that though, I do.”

“Plus I’m kind of scared.” Valerie said. 

“There’s nothing to be scared about.” Jake said holding onto her even tighter. “I’m going to be right there with you one hundred percent of the way. Right there next to you holding your hand telling you how great you’re doing. And then when it’s all over, we are going to have a beautiful baby.”

“You’re right.” Valerie agreed. “You ready to go to bed?” Jake nodded as the two made their way back to their room. He sat down in the bed and laid on his back staring at the ceiling thinking the day over in his mind and for some strange reason the name from the napkin, Amy Santiago, was ringing clearly in his ears. The more he thought about that name the more he swore that the bed was slowly swinging from the side. “Goodnight.” He heard Valerie say. He opened his mouth to respond but no words came out. Even if he could form words he knew that it would be her name.


	7. Chapter 7

Gina was discharged from the hospital two days later and was heading home with her “parents”. She had the perfect plan figured out. She overheard the two talking about going on a date night once she was discharged, which would be tonight. That would be the perfect opportunity for her to pack a bag, steal one of their cars and be long gone by the time they came home. It was like she was a teenager trying to figure out how to runaway all over again. Oh the thrill.

The house was a small ranch, much different than anything Gina was used to living in. Her parents parked the car, which she would later steal, in the driveway before following her inside. She made her way down the one hall till she found a room that looked like it belonged to a teenage girl. God why hadn't she changed the decor at all. 

“Are you sure that you’re okay sweetheart?” Her fake mother asked popping her head into the doorway.

“Yeah I’m good.” Gina said sitting down on the bed. “Just tired.”

“Okay.” Her mother said. “Well your father and I are going to go out to dinner but you are more than welcome to join us.” 

Gina shook her head. “No, I’m good, but you guys have fun. I’m probably just going to stay here and sleep.” her mom nodded before leaving the door way. She looked around the room with posters of Patrick Swayze and John Stamos, it was the epitome of an eighties girl teenage bedroom and all she knew was that she needed to get out.

She laid down on the bed and closed her eyes trying to imagine her life in New York. The mirror said that she had to do one nice selfless thing, how hard could that be? 

Why hadn’t her fake parents left yet? All she wanted to do was drive to New York. She pulled out her phone and googled the driving directions. It was only five hour drive, that was doable, not great but doable. Even if she didn’t have a driver's license, she wasn’t going to get pulled over, she’s been driving for years now and it’s not like Edgar could’ve taken away her ability to drive.

Eventually she heard the garage door open and she peeked a glance out her blinds waiting until she saw their car leave. The second that it was out of distance she left her room and quickly looked around for the keys. Luckily fake parents seemed pretty organized as the keys were hanging on hook right by the door. 

She had debated packing a bag, but one look at the closet and she had just decided that she would buy all new clothes in New York. She quickly got into the car and left the house heading straight towards the I 95 south. Five hours to go until she was home.

The entire time that she was driving the only thing that she could concentrate on was Iggy. Her little baby who didn’t even remember her. It was every parent's worst nightmare. Well sorta. It was kind of specific and she had never thought of it before, but now that she was living it she can positively say it is a worst nightmare. 

Then of course there was the fact that none of the nine nine was going to remember her. Holt wasn’t going to remember all the gossip sessions they’ve had over the past couple of years. Rosa isn't going to remember all the borderline sexual tension the two of them shared. Amy isn’t going to remember her devastating burns. Terry won’t remember her love for him and his muscles. Charles wasn’t going to remember that weird awkward time when they were sleeping together, although that may be a plus for her. And Jake won’t remember growing up together. That hit her pretty hard. The one person that she always shared everything with as a kid wasn’t going to remember who she was. But she could push through this. She could do this. She was Gina Linetti and she wasn’t going to let Edgar Porter put a curse on her that she wasn't able to break. No way in hell.

It’s late when she finally arrives in Brooklyn. At this point her fake parents have gotten home and realized that the car is gone. They are probably searching high and low for their missing daughter having no idea that she was three hundred some miles away. Her first thought when crossing the Brooklyn bridge was to go straight to the nine nine, but then she looked at the clock and realized that they were all at home by now and it was the night shift that was working. Her next thought was to go to one of their houses. Jake and Amy’s was her first destination, but then she thought it might be strange if a complete random stranger showed up at their door. She needed to play this smart if she intended to survive and make it out of this curse.

Thus being how she found herself in a three star hotel room only a couple of blocks away from the nine nine. Luckily she had found one of her parents bank cards in the passenger floorboard. On the way from Maine, somewhere in Massachusetts she stopped at an atm and withdrew a large amount of cash. Mainly enough to buy gas and a hotel room for a couple of nights. She planned to be working at the nine nine again this time tomorrow. 

So she laid there in a hotel room listening to the streets below. The mattress was dangerously cheap and she knew that in the morning her back was going to hurt but right now she couldn't be bothered to care. Milton and Iggy were sleeping less than ten miles away from her and she couldn’t be with them tonight. She couldn't’ be there for her daughter. Her heart ached as she finally closed her eyes and prayed to a God she wasn’t sure she believed in right now that she would fall asleep.

\-------

The next morning, she’s at the nine nine before the day crew has even arrived. She really wasn’t able to sleep, all night tossing and turning thinking about this, and what little sleep she did get, she dreamt of being back in her old life. 

So she found herself sitting on Captain Holt’s couch patiently waiting for him to show up for the day. The nine nine looked almost the same as it did when she left. There were only a few noticeable changes, for instance her desk was completely cleared off. Not surprising considering, her friends had no idea who she was. Everybody else’s desk looked the exact same it did as the moment she left though. 

After what felt like hours, she heard the elevator ding and turned around to see Captain Holt stepping off the elevator. She immediately sat up straighter, although she already knew him, she was in a way getting to meet him again, and she firmly believed that first impressions were key. Usually she wouldn't change a thing about herself to meet someone new, as Gina Linettis presence was a gift, but for this first meet, the stakes felt pretty high.

Captain Holt walked into the office and took one look at the stranger before hanging up his coat. “Hello.” He said and Gina only smiled, she didn’t know how to start. How do you tell someone that you know them when they haven’t even meet you. “What can I do for you on this fine morning.”

“Hi.” Gina said. “I was wondering if you guys were hiring.” she said glancing back out at the bullpen, her desk was clear, maybe they were hiring her old position. That seemed a little optimistic though. “I just moved here from Portland Maine and I need a job. I have experience doing assistant work for a police station up there, and i would love to do it down here.”

“Oh actually this works out perfect.” Holt said and Gina sighed a breath of relief. Everything was going to be okay she told herself. She was about to get a job and the nine nine, without Jake’s help this time, and everything was going to work out. “Have a seat.” Holt concluded. Gina sat down in the chair opposite his desk and nervously played with her hands while he logged into his computer. 

“My last assistant just quit.” He started. “She actually got an offer to start her own reality tv show, so of course she jumped on it. She’s been incredibly missed.” How on Earth did his other assistant manage to do that? Gina had been working on that for years now and she’s never gotten anywhere with it. “We were just about to put out an ad looking for a replacement for her, so you showing up is great timing.”

“Sounds like it.” Gina said with a laugh. Captain Holt then hands her a bunch of paperwork to get started filling out. As she continues going through the paperwork that she had already filled out some odd number of years ago, the bullpen grew more and more lively as the day crew begin showing up. She could make out each of their voices as they said good morning to each other and talked about their nights.

“Alright.” Holt said as Gina handed him the paperwork. “Let me introduce you to Sergeant Terry who will show you around and introduce you to our team.” Gina followed him out into the building where he walked over to Terry’s desk. “Terry this is our new assistant, Gina Linetti. If you would please show her around and introduce her to everyone that would be great.”

“Hi.” Terry said very enthusiastically. “I’m Sergeant Jeffords, but people around here call me Terry, or sarge. The old assistant used to call me tear bear if that’s more your speed.” _Tear Bear._ That’s what she used to call him. “So we’ll start with the detectives.” Terry said leading over to Rosa’s desk. “This is Rosa Diaz, she comes on little bit strong, but inside she’s a big softie.”

“I am not.” Rosa practically growled at Terry. “Do not believe a word he tells you.” Gina only smiled, at least Rosa still seems to be herself in this curse. 

“Okay. Moving on.” Terry said. “This is Charles Boyle. He’s really into cooking although I would not try anything that he makes as he uses some weird ingredients.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Charles said extending his hand. “And yes I do use exotic ingredients but that’s only because I want my taste buds to travel the world.”

“Next we have Hitchcock and Scully.” Terry said. “We call them house mouses, they stay at the nine nine doing paperwork all day. And over here, we have Jake Peralta. As you can tell by his desk, he is the optime of an eleven year old that never grew up, but he’s a great detective very smart guy. I’m not sure where he is right now though, he’s usually late.”

“Okay.” Gina said nodding her head looking over at Amy’s desk. “I have a friend who lives up in this area, she used to work here, Amy Santiago?” Gina asked. “Does she still work here? It’s been awhile since I’ve talked to her.”

“Um.” Terry said reaching and scratching the back of his neck. “It doesn't sound familiar. I can’t think of an Amy Santiago that used to work here.” Gina felt a lump form in the back of her throat, so they don’t remember Any either. She was living somewhere in the U.S. with memories of them that they don’t share just like Gina was. “You sure she worked at the nine nine.”

“Now that I think of it, no I don't think that she did. She must have worked over at the 7-3.” Gina replied trying to brush it off. So Amy remembered her. That was at least a little bit of comfort she thought to herself. 

“Yeah.” Terry agreed. “That would make more sense, because I don’t think that we’ve ever had an Amy Santiago here.” Gina nodded before making her way back to her desk and just kind of staring at her monitor. She wasn’t sure how to deal with this and right now she was feeling a need to find Amy and bring her back here so they can break this curse together, after all it was kind of her fault they were in this mess.

As she was staring blankly at the monitor, she heard the elevator ding and looked up to see Jake get off, followed by a latina girl that was not Amy. “Sorry.” She heard the girl say. “We were at the dentist.”

“Yep.” Jake said and Gina could immediately tell that they were lying. The two of them shared a look before Jake made his way over to his desk throwing his bag down on the floor. The girl who wasn’t Amy stood at Terry’s desk saying a couple of things that Gina couldn't make out. By now though, her attention was focused on Jake. Her childhood best friend who had no idea who she was. Eventually the girl made her way back to the elevator while Jake stayed typing away at his computer.

“Hey sarge?” She heard him ask after a couple of seconds. “Who is the new girl?” Gina’s heart rate immediately doubled as she glanced up at him. 

“Oh!” Terry exclaimed. “I forget.” He stood up from where he was seated. “Gina this is detective Peralta. And Peralta that is Gina Linetti, she’s replacing Stacey.” Jake’s face fell at the mention of the other girl. So the girl who used to work here is named Stacey.

“It’ll be okay Jakey.” Charles said from across the bullpen. “We will still see plenty of Stacey, after all she is a Boyle now.” Gina kept her mouth shut as she listened to the conversation between the two men. Stacey must have Gina’s old life. Then it all made sense. The latina girl that walked in with Jake is supposed to be Amy.

“Hey Jake?” Gina asked and Jake snapped his attention towards her. “Who was the woman that you walked in with? I’m just trying to get to know everybody.”

Jake smiled warmly before responding. “Valerie Creager. She’s sergeant of the beat cops. She’s my wife.” He said with an even bigger smile on his face.

“Two years and I’m still not used to you calling her your wife.” Boyle gushed and yep that was definitely supposed to be Amy. Poor Amy. Gina thought. She was all alone somewhere missing Jake, and he was here madly in love with another girl.Gina shook her head before returning her attention to her monitor.

The time slowly passed by until it was five o clock and she was heading out of the building. The group was talking about going to Shaws but she was not in the mood. Not in the mood to hang out with a group of people who she considered family yet they didn’t know her.

So, she found herself on the subway sitting alone listening to the crying little girl and her mother who was desperately trying to push her. That used to be her. She used to be that mother on the subway trying to get her daughter to cooperate but now her daughter didn’t even know her. What a strange twist.

The subway came to a skirting halt at the next stop and she briefly closed her eyes. This used to be her stop. The sounds of New Yorkers shuffling around her was almost calming, the intercom speaker announcing that the train was about to leave. Her hotel was only one more stop. 

“Is this seat taken?” Someone asks startling her out of her transe. That’s when she realizes that she recognizes that voice. Her eyes snap open an in instant and she was staring at the very man she had been thinking about. Milton. He cleared his throat to catch her attention again.

“Sorry, you’re all good.” Gina said motioning to the seat next to her. “I’m Gina.” She said before she could stop herself. She needed to hear his voice. 

“I’m Milton.” He replied nodding his head several times and that’s when Gina realized how awkward this must really be. If there is one thing she knows about New Yorkers it's that they like to get where they are going with little to no human interaction. Yet she just can’t find it in her to care.

“Are you the Miton that is cousins with Charles Boyle?” Gina asks even though she knows the answer. She watches the way his face changes, his eyes flashing with surprise as she tries to come up with her reason for how she knows this.

“I am.” Milton said. “Is it that obvious I’m a Boyle?” He asks her with a laugh. No. She never would’ve thought that he was a Boyle. That was one of his best qualities. He didn’t wear the boring tan and although he loved to cook, he wasn’t as obnoxious about it as the rest of them.

“No.” She said returning the laugh. “It’s actually a crazy coincidence. I just got a new job at the nine nine where I work with your cousin. He showed me pictures of all the Boyle cousins, and I saw you get on and I was like you know what? That’s a Boyle.”

“That is crazy!” Milton agreed with her. “What are you doing there?”

“I’m doing assistant type work for Captain Holt.” Gina replied already knowing exactly what his response was going to be.

“Oh! That’s crazy!” Milton agreed. “That’s actually what my wife used to do. Her name’s Stacey, she actually just quit because now she’s got her own reality tv show. It’s pretty cool.”

“That is cool.” Gina lied. “Charles mentioned something about her.” She said as the train came to a stop at the next stop. She was going to stay. She wasn’t going to leave him when he had just started talking to her.

“This is me.” Milton said and as it turns out she is going to get off on this stop. Score! 

“Cool me too!” Gina said standing off and following him off the subway. They were about to split ways before Gina stopped him. “Do you mind if we exchange numbers.” he seemed to hesitate but she really just didn’t care anymore. This wasn’t the real world nothing mattered. “I just moved here from Portland and don’t have too many friends. Just trying to get to know people.”

“Oh of course.” Milton said pulling out his phone and handing it over to her. She went to type in her number but realized that her number was already linked to Stacey’s contact. After he gave her her own phone back, she fumbled through the contacts until she found her own number to enter into his phone.

“Thank you.” Gina said handing it back to him. “I’ll uh see you around.” She said with a smile before heading off towards the hotel. She checked into the hotel getting a room on the fifth floor. Things are looking up she thought as she got into the elevator, a warm smile on her face, and her phone feeling warm in her hand with Milton’s number. This curse could suck her non existent dick.


	8. Chapter 8

**Amy**

She was losing her mind. That was the only thing that she knew for sure. She had been in Missouri for an entire week now, and wasn’t getting out for one more day. Her next flight was going from St.Louis to Orlando and she was counting down the hours until that plane was going to take off.

It was kind of a funny thing actually. In her real life, she had kind of wanted to go to Missouri. It wasn’t on the top of her list of things that she wanted to do, but it was up there. She wanted to see the arch in St.Louis, the pictures on the internet really didn't do it justice now that she’s seen it. In her old life she had always imagined her and Jake going to top of it- that was until what she saw the tiny elevators going up it looked like, plus there was the fact that Jake was afraid of heights. (Although he would never admit it). 

Then when she got pregnant, she started imagining taking the kids down to Branson. She saw a segment about it one time that said it was a great family activity city. They had an amusement park that she knew her kids, and her husband, would enjoy. They had tons of shows which kids more like her would like but if they were more like Jake they would probably hate. It was right on Table Rock Lake, and she had always imagined that they would rent a condo that overlooked the lake and have a great family weekend.

So the bottom line is, she’s thought about coming to Missouri, but she never thought about moving here, and she definitely never thought about moving here with a man that wasn’t Jake. 

Noah has been out in the field for hours, leaving her alone in the house. She’s spent most of her time snooping through things trying to get a feel for this life that wasn’t hers. Is it really snooping if you own the things? 

There were a lot of pictures all throughout the house and in every single one she was smiling but she has no recollection of taking the pictures. This entire curse is freaking her out, but how Edgar managed to get her pictures she doesn't remember is baffling. Really the entire thing is completely mind numbingly bafflingly but she doesn't have time to dwell on that. 

While she is going through a box she found under the bed marked “Amy’s things.” She hears the phone ring from across the kitchen. Immediately she’s on her feet sprinting towards it. Maybe it’s Jake that's calling! When she finally picked up the phone she was frantic and gasping for air praying that he was calling her and going to save her from this hell hole of a life. “Hello?” 

“Amy!” someone on the other side of the line exclaimed. “It’s so nice to finally hear your voice! We thought that you were going to ignore us again like you have been every other time we’ve called. Noah says that your home when we call and you must just not be picking up the phone.”

“Oh.” Amy said. She tried to hide her disappointment. Why hasn’t Jake called her yet? He was a police officer, he should be calling any number that is set on his desk with the word urgent written on it. “Hi mom?” She guessed. If this wasn’t her “mom” this was going to be a really awkward conversation.

“Oh don’t sound so surprised. We only raised you until you were eighteen. Yes it’s me. Your mother is still alive. I know such a burden.”

“What?” Amy asked. “No I didn’t mean that.” Amy said. “I was just hoping that someone else would call.”

“Were you hoping for Adam?” Her mom asked her and although Amy didn’t know who Adam was she knew that it wasn’t a good thing based on the way her mother said his name. “Do you really think that what you’re doing is fair to poor Noah, Amy?” Amy didn't say anything. She really had no idea what any of this meant. Based on context clues, she assumes that she must be cheating on Noah with Adam, but that sounds unlike her. Amy Santiago was not a cheater. 

“I don’t know.” Amy said wincing at her words. That was the best that she could come up with?

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Her mom asked. “Noah is the best thing that's ever happened to you. He stood by you that whole time that you were in AA and NA, he was right there by your side and now you’re cheating on him with some sleezy guy you meet at a bar. Amy I thought that we raised you better than that.”

Amy was silent. So much new information in such a little time. Alcoholics anonymous _and_ narcotics anonymous? God, she was such a trainwreck in this life. All the more reason to get back to New York. “I don’t know mom okay?” Amy asked. This conversation needed to end and it needed to end soon. Amy didn’t like getting scolded by people even if this woman was her fake mother that she’s never even met.

“You need to get your life together.” her mom said and Amy nodded because she couldn't agree more. “When he finds out and he ends up divorcing you, you should know that we are going to be on his side.”

“Wow mom.” Amy said before she could stop herself. Her own mother would never say anything like that too her. Amy could cheat on Jake with a hundred different guys (not that she ever would) and her mother would never say something like that to her. At least not to her face. “I’ve gotta go. Don’t bother calling back. You can call Noah sometime.” Amy said before hanging up the phone. She smiled slightly to herself, although she would never admit it, it kinda felt good to stand up to an authoritative figure for once. Plus in this fake life there were no consequences. 

Amy then went back to the bedroom and slid the box that was going through back to where it belonged. Moments later Noah walked through the front door and Amy thanked God that he hadn’t been in here a mere ten minutes ago. “Hey!” he said when he saw her. “How was your day?”

“It was okay.” Amy replied casually. She still hated this. So much. How was she supposed to act like this man was her husband. She still hasn’t kissed him yet and she isn’t sure how much longer she can get away with leaning away and saying bad breath. Eventually he’s going to be on to her. Still, the idea of kissing a man that isn’t Jake actually makes her feel sick to her stomach. What makes her feel even more nauseous is the idea that he’s out there kissing his new wife having no idea why it's wrong. The thought makes her stomach turn. 

“Where’s your next flight?” he asks her.

“It leaves tomorrow morning, going to Orlando.”

“Nice!” He says and she can’t quite tell if her really means that or not, but she’s also not sure that she really cares at this point. One more day and she’s out of here. Less than twenty four hours, she only has to make it until the morning and then she’s jet set to Orlando far away from this shitty fake life.

\------

Amy followed her fellow flight attendant, Molly, down the jet bridge toward the flight. She was ready to get out of St.Louis even if she was only going to Orlando. She wished that she was going to New York but she wasn’t that lucky. Why Jake haven't called her yet was beyond her. All she wanted to do was hear his voice.

She boarded the flight and began getting things ready for the flight. That’s when she heard his voice. She honestly never thought that she would hear it again and in a past life she swore that if she did she would punch him square in the face. She turned around to make sure it was him and sure enough Roger Peralta was standing at the front of the plane talking to Molly.

An in instant she was taken back to laying on their couch holding Jake in her arms as they watched Die Hard. She carded her fingers through his hair as he recounted how his dad left his mom again and his mom swore that he was really gone this time. She could still hear his voice loud and clear “I don’t want him to meet our kids Ames.” he had said. “I don’t want to have to explain to them why they won’t see Grandpa again.” She had nodded in agreement leaning down to kiss his forehead and he closed her eyes reveling in the feeling of her hands in his hair. God how she missed him. 

“Hi. Roger Peralta. How are you?” She heard Roger ask her and she realized that she was going to have to have a conversation with her estranged father in law. 

“I’m good.” Amy responded before realizing this was her chance. He handed it to her on a golden plate. As long as he didn’t abandon Jake in this life. “You’re Jake’s father right?” she asked and his eyes lit up the way a normal father’s would when someone asks about their only child.

“Yeah he is!” Roger replied. “Do you know him?”

“Uh yeah.” She said “We went to college together We were really good friends. Did he ever make detective.” She asked him even though she knew the answer, she’s already been to the nine nine. But still it was better to start off with small questions, prove that she really does know him.

“Yeah he did. He’s working at the 99th precinct in Brooklyn.”

“Oh that’s really cool.” Amy said.

“Yeah he loves it.”

“I bet.” Amy agreed. “As much as he loved Die Hard that doesn't surprise me.” she said. “I saw on his facebook a couple of years back that he was dating that one girl. What was her name? Valerie or something like that?”

“Yeah.” Roger said. “They got married a couple of years back. It was a gorgeous wedding, I’m sure there were pictures of it on Facebook.” Roger continued. “I’m actually not supposed to say anything because they haven’t told anyone yet.” Amy knew what he was going to say and she prayed that she was wrong. “But they are actually expecting a baby. Again don’t say anything, cause I wasn’t supposed to but I’m just so excited to be a grandparent.”

“Of course.” Amy said faking a smile that she hoped didn’t look as forced as it felt. “Your secret is safe with me, I probably won’t be seeing Jake anytime soon anyways.”

“Oh, he’s going to be on this flight.”

“He what?” Amy practically screamed nearly dropping her bag that she was stuffing into the overhead compartment. “That’s cool.” she said trying to play off how she reacted. “Haven’t seen him in a while. Be good to see him.” Roger nodded before heading back up to the front of the plane as it was time for passengers to start boarding. 

She followed him up there as Molly had told her that she was had to stand at the front of the plane greeting passenger. Amy watched them slowly trickle on to the plane smiling and greeting each one. The line of people seemed endless as she waited to see his face. She’s never felt so nervous in her entire life. _Her_ Jake was going to be on this plane. She was going to get to see him, the fact that he wasn’t going to know her hurt, but she needed to see him, needed visual confirmation that he was okay. 

And then she saw him and it was like the entire world stopped. She wasn’t processing anything around her, the only thing on her mind was him. It wasn’t like the romantic comedies where they make eye contact from across the room and share a knowing look. Instead it was her staring at him and him talking to his wife. 

The line of people grew shorter until he was standing right in front her. He looked the exact same as he did when she left him. He was still wearing his plaid shirt and leather jacket and she could tell that he had done the bare minimum to his hair that morning. Not a surprise as she figured Valerie had to drag him out of bed to make it to the flight on time. She loved the man, but flying with him was the absolute worst. 

“I don’t understand why we have to go through St.Louis.” She heard him say and her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest after hearing his voice again. “It makes way more sense to go directly from New York to Orlando.”

“It was cheaper to do it this way.” The girl that Amy recognized from the picture she stole of his desk responded. “And it was better than the drive down there.”

She watched Jake shutters and she wondered if he was remembering the twenty hour car ride that they shared with the entire squad after she shot his foot. “True.” He said before he was standing at the front of the line face to face with her. 

“Hi.” She said as she did to all the other passengers. But there was a different tone. One that said hi I miss you and I don’t want to do this without you, but nobody but her would’ve gotten that. “Welcome aboard.” She said. Her mouth was so dry that after this she was going to have to go and chug two whole water bottles.

“Thanks.” Jake said and she almost melted right there on the spot. She wanted to hug him, wanted to wrap her arms around him and smell his cologne. She wanted to feel his arms wrapped around her holding her tight. But she couldn’t do that. Instead she had to stand her and watch the back of his head as he walked down the aisle hand in hand with his new wife. She wanted to puke and she wasn’t convinced that she wasn’t about to. 

After everyone was on board and in their seats, Amy and Molly went through the same speal she heard every time she’s gotten on an airplane before. She had never expected to have to be the person at the front of the plane talking though. After that she was soon seated in her seat and closing her eyes as she felt the plane taxi down the runway. He was so close to her yet so far. It would be so easy for her to walk over to him right now -after the flight is steady in the air that is- and pull her into him, but she can’t because he doesn't know who she is and a flight attendant randomly hugging you is kind strange. 

So she decides to play it cool, as cool as she knows how to that is. When she stops the soda cart outside his isle, she automatically reaches for the orange soda can placing it down in front of him. “Thanks.” He says before looking down at the can sitting in front of him. “Wait- how did you know?” He asks and Amy can feel the heat rush to her checks.

“Uh you just look like an orange soda kind of guy.” She lied laughing it off and praying that he would too. 

“That’s not a compliment babe.” Valerie said before turning and addressing Amy. “Can I just get a Sprite please.” Amy nodded. That’s exactly what she would've ordered had she been sitting there. Actually she normally would’ve ordered a Pepsi but the pregnancy binder said to limit caffeine intake. Another painful reminder that this woman was pregnant and not her anymore. “It was so nice of your dad to upgrade us to first class. We don’t even have to drink out of plastic cups like suckers anymore.” She said and Amy just continued rolling the cart though she was hyper aware of his voice. It was the only thing that she could really focus on at the moment. 

She then finds herself back up at the front of the plane doing things that flight attendants do, or rather she’s faking her way through this because she has no fucking clue how to be a flight attendant. Solve murders? She can do. But making tedious in flight announcements? Not really her thing. 

So she finds herself passing time by casually staring at her husband and his wife. Why does he look so happy? Does he not feel like there is something wrong? Why doesn't he miss her? 

“Do you know them?” She hears Molly ask her and that’s when she realizes that her casual stare is not as casual as it appears. “I think that you’re starting to freak his wife out.” Molly says but when Amy glances back at the pair, Valerie isn’t looking at her and even if she was looking Amy imagines that she’s used to girls checking Jake out. Amy sure was.

“No.” Amy says. “He just kind of reminds me of my husband.” Molly nodded before turning and walking off to do her job which she actually chose to do. Amy grabs a trash bag and starts making her way down the isles as well, the plane’s about to land and she can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, she doesn't have to sit here and watch Jake make dove eyes at a girl that’s not her but on the other hand this is the closest she’s gotten to him since she left her other life.

When she reaches him, Valerie’s head is on his shoulder and her eyes and shut. He’s got his arms casually wrapped around her shoulder and even from here, she can see the tiny patterns he’s tracing into her arms. She shudders remembering when that used to be her. She holds her trash bag out for him and he throws away the two cans. “Can you also put your tray table in the upright position as we will be landing soon.”

“Of course.” Jake says with a smile before putting his and Valerie's table backup. Amy continues walking trying to not cry. It would be so awkward and hard to explain if anyone were to ask her. After finishing collecting the trash, she’s seated back down in her seat her legs shaking and nervousness. Landing had never been her favorite part of plane rides. She always found it so stressful and nerve wracking watching out the window as the plane grew closer and closer to the ground and she could never see the runway. Plus she hated how jarring it was when they hit the runway. Still she braced herself for the impact, this was her job now. 

Once the plane had landed she watched passenger scramble to get their things out of the overhead compartment. Her eyes were trained on Jake as he pulled out a backpack which she recognized as her own before signing it over his shoulder. He reached out and offered his hand to Valerie which she took lacing their fingers together. As they got closer she was able to hear their conversation. “I am so excited.” She heard him say. “Best state ever.” Best state ever? Amy questioned. Since when? The Jake she knew was pretty adamant that Florida was a garbage state and that he was never going back no matter how much she wanted to take their kids to Disney World. 

She watched him exit the plane and step into the jet bridge. Her eyes stayed on him until he rounded the corner and was completely gone for God only knows how long. That’s when it clicked in her brain. She didn’t have to sit back and just let this happen. She was her own person and could make her own choices. And she wanted him back. So that was that. She was going to move to New York and find a way to get a job at the nine nine. And then she was going to find a way to get him back. She was going to beat this curse if it was the last thing she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that it's been a while since I've updated this. To be honest I've had a really hard time finding it in me to write more of this, but I'm working through it :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Jake**

Jake and Valerie walked out of the Orlando airport hand in hand. The sun was beaming down so bright that Jake had to reach into his carry on bag and pull out his sunglasses just to cross the street. It was hot but not miserably hot like it was the last time the two of them were here.

The condo that they had rented was small but comfortable for two people. Soon they would need a bigger place because in about seven months it wasn’t just going to be the two of them anymore. The thought was somehow the most exciting and frightening thing he’s ever thought about. 

“Do you want to go the Sandbar?” Valerie asked as she threw her bag down on the bed. “I’m starving.” 

“Yeah that sounds good.” Jake responded. He put his bag down next to hers and grabbed her hand before they headed out. The nice thing about Coral Palms was that almost everything was walkable distance, much like New York. Driving here would be much easier, but it was pointless when it was only a five minute walk and the sun was shining.

“I know that you think it’s too hot out here, but it really is a gorgeous place.” Valerie said admiring the ocean as they walked. “Could you imagine living this close to the water.”

“New York is right on water.” Jake said remembering when he found that out during Halloween heist number two.

“Yeah.” Valerie agreed. “But it’s different. This is so tropical, so pretty. It seems calming. I guess it’s just got a different vibe than the city.”

“That’s for sure.” Jake agreed as they neared the restaurant. They quickly got seated at a table looking right onto the water. They had eaten at this restaurant a lot while they spent time here during the witsec phase. Valerie liked the location and the food was pretty great. They had eaten at almost every restaurant on the island and this one was definitely in the top three.

“Isn’t it strange to think that the last time we were here we were Johnny and Dora?” Valerie asked him leaning forward her chin rested on her hand. “That feels like an entire lifetime ago.” She said.

“It does.” Jake agreed. Despite the heat and missing the city and all his friends, those six months had honestly been the best of his life. Not counting every month afterwards. During those six months they were told that they had to pretend to be married. It worried Valerie at first but after the first day, the two of them found that they played the married couple part quite well. 

He had spent years imagination saying that she was his wife and so getting to say it outloud for six months was such a great feeling. Although it didn’t even come close to the real thing. “That was fun.” He added.

“It was fun.” Valerie said. “I actually think that it was a good thing that it happened.”

“What do you mean?” Jake asked.

“Well, don’t be mad, but when we were sent down here I never really saw myself marrying you.” She said and Jake’s facial features fell slightly. It was a sensitive spot for him because deep down he knew that Valerie could do a thousand times better. 

“I loved you and I wanted to be with you but I was having a hard time picturing us in the future. But then we were sent down here and told that we had to be married and you blew my mind away with how husband like you could be. I mean I guess I should’ve known, you were the perfect boyfriend, why wouldn’t you have been the perfect husband.”

Jake smiled at her for a moment. “I love you so much.” He said. “Those were the best six months of our entire relationship. Before we got married for realz.”

“It was good practice.” Valerie agreed. “I’m just glad that I got to be the one down here with you.”

“Me too.” Jake agreed. “I would have lost my damn mind if it would've been anyone else.”

“Oh my gosh.” Valerie said laughing. “Could you imagine if it would’ve been you and Charles.”

Jake laughed imagining all the awful meals Charles would’ve made him eat. “Or worse I could’ve been down here with Holt. God he probably would've made me wear a tie.” When Jake looked back up at Valerie he could tell exactly what she thinking. “Don’t tell me that you wish it would've been you and Holt down here.”

There was an awkward moment of silence before Valerie finally cracked with a laugh. “No! I mean I had a great time with you but think about all the mentoring we would've gotten in with six months just the two of us.”

“Wow.” Jake said. “ _Wow._ ” He said again.

“Stop!” Valerie said to him trying to hide her smile and laugh. 

“Florida is a nice state and all but why does it have to be so hot down here? Like would it kill this state to have some clouds every once in a while.”

“Jake it is the sunshine state.” Valerie sad.

“So they can’t have clouds every once in a while?” Jake sighed. “It is not necessary to be this hot.”

“You’re literally sitting indoors where it’s air conditioning.” Valerie said before adding. “Hopefully this kid is more level headed than you.”

“Offensive.” Jake said. He took a break to shovel more food into his mouth before asking her the question that had been weighing on his mind since they stepped off the plane. “Slight change of topic.” he started. “But did you happen to recognize the flight attendant today?”

“They girl from New York to St Louis?” Valerie asked. “No, but she kind of looked like my cousin Nicki, the one that you met at the one family reunion.”

“No the girl from St Louis to Orlando.” Jake said watching as his wife's face briefly changed to a disgruntled look.

“The girl that was practically undressing you with her eyes?” Valerie asked and Jake was taken back a second by her words. She’d never been so candor about girls checking him out. He didn’t think that it happened that often contrary to whatever Valerie thought. He just never saw it, probably because he had no reason to. But he definitely didn’t notice the flight attendant looking at him like that.

“I guess.” Jake said shrugging his shoulders. “But did she seem familiar to you? I mean she seems _so_ familiar to me. Like I know her from somewhere.”

“Babe.” Valerie said. “How would you know a random flight attendant from Missouri? That doesn't make sense.”

“I don’t know.” Jake said. “I just got a weird feeling.”

“I wouldn't worry about.” Valerie said and Jake could tell that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. She very raley got jealous, but when she did it was obvious. So he decided that it was best he just dropped it all together. 

 

After eating, the two of them walked around the small town looking at different window displays. Valerie had drug him into several different stores and by now he was holding her hand with one hand and what felt like fifteen shopping bags in the other.

“Oh!” Valerie said stopping abruptly outside one of the shops. “Look at how cute that baby onesie is.” She said pointing towards a little ones that read. I heart Coral Palms. “We have to buy that.” she said as she walked into the store with him. 

One bag later and the two of them were walking back towards their condo to deposit the bags. Valerie was talking about something that happened at work before they left and he was trying to listen. He really was. But his mind was still kind of occupied with the flight attendant. He never saw her name tag. 

The second that he saw her on the plane, he had this ringing in his ears. It was a high pitch ring that made him want to curl up in a ball right there on the nasty plane floor until it went away. Still he had sat down in his seat next to Valerie. The further away she got from him the less the pitch would be. When she was standing right next to him giving him the drinks he thought that he was going to burst an eardrum it was so loud. 

Not mentioning it to Valerie seemed dishonest for some reason. Which was stupid he tried to reassure himself. The thing is, he knew that if he mentioned it she would make him see an ear doctor and he really didn’t want to do that. Plus the ringing had gone away. That is until he started thinking about the girl and picturing her face in his mind, and then it was back.

He ultimately chalked it up to strange occurrences. Some sort of weird psychological thing that his brain was doing. It didn’t make sense but at the same time it was the only thing that made sense. What was the other option? That he knew this girl but had no recollection of her? That makes even less sense than the psychological part.

“Earth to Jake.” He heard Valerie say.

“Sorry.” Jake said shaking his head to rid his mind of the girl and just like that the ringing stopped. 

“You okay?” She asked a look of concern on her face. He couldn't lie to her, he just couldn't do it. 

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just having some really bad ringing in my ears.” He didn’t have to mention the girl, that was just extra information that didn’t matter.

“Oh.” She said as they came to a stop outside their condo door. She unlocked and went inside throwing the shopping bags down on the kitchen table. “I can look at it if you want. It might just be from the plane, maybe your ears haven’t popped yet.”

“Yeah maybe.” Jake said.

“If it doesn't go away you can go see the audiologist when we get home.”

“Nope.” Jake said. “Not going to happen.”

“You have to start going to the doctor Jake.” Valerie said with her serious voice. “It’s not just you anymore you know.”

“I know.” Jake said. “But I’m fine. I’m healthy.”

“I’m not saying that you aren't.” She replied. “I’m saying that once a year I would like a professional to tell me that you aren’t going to contract some sickness and die. I can’t do this without you.”

Jake glanced up at her and he could just tell by the look in her eyes that she was three seconds away from crying. “Hey.” He said softly wrapping his arms around her. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I promise.” He said running his hand through her hair. “If it means that much to you, I’ll go to the doctor when we get back.”

“Thank you.” She said through sniffles. “I’m sorry that I’m such a mess right now, it’s the stupid pregnancy hormones.”

“You don’t have to apologize for crying Val.” Jake said his arms still wrapped tightly around her. “Your allowed to have feelings and emotions.”

“I know.” Valerie said. “I just feel bad that it’s going to be a rough seven months for you.”

“Nah.” Jake said. “These will be the last easy months of our life, because then were going to have a crying screaming infant who isn’t going to be sorry for waking us up at three am in the morning.”

“True.” Valerie said. “I’m excited though.”

“Oh i'm very pumped to meet little him or her.”

“Speaking of.” Valerie said pulling away from him. “Who do you think that we should tell next.” She grabbed her beach bag off the table and pulled on a pair of flip flops. He followed suit before following her out the door.

The sun was slowly starting to set over the horizon and just like the six months they spent down here he knew that there was nothing Valerie liked more than watching the sun disappear behind the ocean horizon. Since the sun was lower in the sky the temperature was actually bearable, something that Jake was very grateful for.

“I don’t know.” He said as she spread their large towel out on the sand. He sat down next to her and she rested her head on his shoulder. “I think Charles would die if he wasn't the first one to know, but I think that if we tell Charles everybody else is going to know.”

“I think that we should tell Holt next. I mean it’s the most logical step, pretty soon he’s going to need to know for work purpose anyway.”

“No I think that’s a good point.” Jake agreed. “Maybe we should tell him when we come back next week and then just play it by here to see when we tell everyone else.”

“That sounds good to me.” Valerie said lacing their fingers together as the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon.


	10. Chapter 10

**Gina**

“Sorry I’m late.” Gina said practically out of breath by the time she made it into the coffee shop closest to the nine nine. “I had a really hard time getting up this morning.”

“No you’re totally good.” Milton said with a warm smile and she swore that she was falling in love with this man all over again. How could he be a Boyle and be so damn cute?

Milton and her had been meeting up almost every day for coffee since they meet on the subway. He says that it’s a nice break from Stacey (She can be high maintenance sometimes- his words) and she will take any chance to see him. She thinks that he’s starting to consider her a friend and she knows that she would consider him a friend, although she was still trying to tell herself that it wasn’t appropriate to kiss him goodbye. 

“Iggy had her first day in preschool so it’s been kind of hard on Stacey.” Milton said interrupting her thoughts. She swallowed trying to not think about her daughter growing up without her. Of course she knew that Iggy was about to start preschool, it had been on the calendar for awhile now, but she never thought that she would miss it.

“Oh I bet.” Gina said. “I can only imagine.” She really could imagine and it was tearing her apart. “How did Iggy seem to handle it?”

“Actually better than we were expecting.” Milton said and Gina smiled. That’s her daughter. “I think that she was excited to spend all day with people her age. She’s definitely just like her mom.” He took a drink of his coffee and she could tell that he was thinking about saying something but couldn’t decide if he wanted to or not. “I’m not sure that’s such a great thing tough.” he said after a second.

“Why?” Gina asked pressing him further. He never talked about Stacey with her. When he did it was only in passing, never how he felt about her. This was her chance to find out more. “If you don’t mind me asking.” She added hoping that it wouldn’t come on too strong.

“I mean this is going to sound awful.” Milton said setting the mug down on the table, Gina did the same to show him that he was getting her full attention, and when Gina Linetti gave you her whole full attention you knew that it was damn important. “But Stacey can be a little self absorbed. Sometimes she acts like the world revolves around her.”

Gina didn’t know if she should be pissed that he’s saying these things about the girl that’s basically her or happy that he’s not absolutely in love with Stacey. “She can also be pretty mean. I don’t think that she’s trying to be hurtful, I think that’s just the way it comes across.”

“You think that she’s mean?” Gina asked him. That’s what Edgar had said but she had never really thought about herself as mean. If anything she was just stating the truth. It’s not her fault that Amy always walked into work wearing drab pantsuits. Or that she told the whole school Edgar had lice when she saw white flakes in her hair. She was just doing everyone a service in a way. Honesty is the best policy and as her mother used to say the truth hurts.

“Yeah.” Milton said shrugging his shoulders. “There was this girl named Valerie- Well what I’m talking about you know her now- but Stacey was so mean to Valerie. She made fun of everything about her including her name.” Milton said. “Valerie seemed to be fine with it but I think that deep down in bothered her more than she let on.”

“Oh.” Gina said. Did it bother Any more than she let on. Sure Gina was kind of mean to her, but she would consider them friends although she would never say it outloud or anything.

“She was even pretty mean when Valerie started dating and married Jake. She didn’t think that Valerie was good enough for Jake. Some of the things she said we're pretty awful.”

That was new. Gina never for once thought that Amy wasn’t good enough for Jake. How on Earth could she have thought that when she saw the way Jake’s eyes lit up whenever she was in the room. She made Jake so happy that it was almost sickening. Gina never would've said anything bad about Amy to Jake and she never would’ve said that Amy wasn’t good enough for him. “That’s awful.” Gina finally said. “I mean I barely know the two of them but they seem pretty great together.”

“Oh yeah. For sure.” Milton agreed. “Jake is like the brother Stacey never had. Anybody he married wasn’t going to be good enough for Stacey. It’s like she took on the role of over protective mother or something.”

Gina only shrugged glancing down at her phone to check the time. She was going to be late but she couldn't really bring herself to care. Not when she was sitting her talking to him. “Oh you’re going to be late.” Milton said and she cursed herself for allowing him to see the time.

“Yeah, but it’s fine.” She said but Milton disagreed shaking his head. He stood up and grabbed his coat and she did the same. Why did he have to see the damn time?

“Well I had a really great time.” Milton said as the two of them exited the cafe. “Should we do this again tomorrow?” He asked her following her down the sidewalk towards the nine nine building.

“Yeah that would be great.” Gina said. Unfortunately the walk from the cafe to the nine nine was relatively short and soon they were standing outside the building and she was going to have to leave him. “I really enjoy hanging out with you.” She said and prayed that he could read between the lines.

“Me too.” He said and there was a twinkle in his eyes that she recognized from her old life. “I’ll text you later.”

“Okay.” She said turning and going into the building a smile on her face the whole way up the stairs. The bullpen was strangely quiet as she sat down at her desk. She wasn’t used to there not being constant comotion at work. It reminded her of those ugly months when Jake and Rosa were in prison or Jake and Holt were in Florida. Funny how both of those things involved Jake. Anytime he was gone, she could instantly tell. 

“Hey sarge?” Gina called from across the room and Terry’s gaze instantly snapped up. “Where is Jake at? Or is he just _super_ late today?”

“Him and Valerie are down in Florida.” Terry said standing up from his desk and walking towards her. “They’re going to be gone for the whole week.”

“Florida?” Gina asked her nose wrinkling up. “I thought that Jake hated Florida.” Terry’s face scrunched up in confusion and she realized that she would have no reasons to know that. “I thought that I overheard one of the uniform officers say that’s where he went for six months for witness protection program or something.” She said praying that she wasn’t going to sound like a crazy person. Then again she could chalk it up to one strange rumor that’s going around. There was nothing she loved more than to start a rumor.

“Oh he did go down there for witsec. Him and Valerie were both threatened by Jimmy Figgis, so they had to go live down there for six months. They pretended to be married. Back here we had a bet on how long it would take them to get married in real life. Terry won. Big time.”

“Gotcha.” Gina said as Terry left her desk and walked into Captain Holt’s office shutting the door behind him. Amy would have loved going to Florida with Jake. She knew for a fact that was something that Amy had even thought of at the time. There was a conversation with six drink Amy that she vividly remembered in which Amy sobed about why it couldn’t have been her that was threatened. It looks like in this life fake Amy got her way. Good for her. 

A couple of minutes later, Terry was walking out of Holt’s office and Gina quickly stopped him before he could get all the way back to his desk. “Terry Terry Terry.” Gina said. “What about prison? I heard someone say that Jake and Rosa were put on trial for robbing a bank that’s not true right?”

“Unfortunately that is true.” Terry said looking down at the ground for a second. “They were framed by a dirty cop named Melanie Hawkins. They were put on trail but at the last minute we were able to link the money that was put into their accounts to Melanie so they didn’t go to jail. It was really stressful though.”

“That’s good.” Gina said. It’s too bad that’s not the way that it worked out in real life. She knew that would save both Rosa and Jake a ton of ptsd and nightmares. The first couple of weeks after prison, Gina had horror story after horror story from Amy about things that Jake was saying in his sleep and nightmares he was having that were keeping her up at night. She remembered staying with Amy that first night after they got sentenced and the two girls practically crying themselves to sleep. It made her somewhat happy to think that maybe they didn’t have to go through that in this life. Although deep down she knew that it didn’t matter because this wasn’t the real world. 

The hours slowly passed by until she was sitting in the break room with her sandwich that she had bought at the food truck she used to always love. She was sitting next to Terry and Rosa when Charles walked in and sat down with some sort of food that looked, and smelt, absolutely disgusting. 

“So I don’t think that Stacey and Milton are going to be able to make it.” Charles said before taking a huge bite into his sandwich. 

“What why?” Terry asked sounding concerned. It was strange to Gina that they were talking about her while not actually talking about her. “They seemed so perfect for each other.”

“Yeah.” Charles said. “I guess that Stacey is cheating on him.”

“What?” Gina asked the words just slipping out of her mouth. There were a lot of things that Gina was but a cheater was not one of them. She would never cheat on Milton, it wouldn't even cross her mind, so maybe her and Stacey were not all that alike after all.

“Well it’s not for certain, but he thinks that she’s having an affair with one of the producers of her show. He’s says that she’s just been really distant and not really acting like herself anymore.”

“It was only a matter of time.” Rosa said. “That girl was so self absorbed I don’t see how anyone could stand to be married to her.”

“I wasn’t going to say it but I think that you’re kind of right.” Terry agreed. “Marriage is about compromise and if there was one thing that Stacey wasn’t good at…”

“Wait- do you guys not like Stacey?” Gina asked. She felt like her entire world was kind of collapsing around her. She’s been questioning reality for a while now, but right now she was really starting to wonder. She was liked in the nine nine right? They didn’t talk behind her back like this.

“It’s not that we don’t like her.” Charles said. “You just kinda got take her for what she is. She’s that fun friend that you love to go out drinking with but she’s not that friend you’re gonna call in a crisis.”

“So do you think her and Milton are going to get divorced?” Rosa asked.

“I don’t know.” Charles said. “It’s not good though. He’s so convinced that she’s cheating that he’s decided to just screw it. He told me the other day that he’s already met a girl that he likes and he’s thinking about acting on it.”

“He shouldn’t do that until he knows for sure what’s happening with Stacey.” Terry said. “I mean she might not even be cheating."

“Yeah.” Charles agreed. “I tried to tell him that but he just doesn't see it like that.” 

“That’s too bad.” Terry said. Gina smiled and nodded trying to not come across like she was jumping with joy. Was it possible that she could be that girl that he was talking about? Maybe he had the same feelings that she had from him. Her heart warmed at the idea of maybe getting him back. Please God let her be that girl.

\------

**Amy**

Amy frantically moved around the house throwing random things into a duffle bag. It was so unlike her to be unorganized and to not carefully fold all her outfits but right now she couldn't find herself to care. This whole thing seemed so out of character for her, she was moving to New York on a whim. When she thought about it seemed kind of crazy. Where was she going to live and what if she couldn't get a job at the nine nine? New York was not cheap.

She couldn’t think about it for too long because if she did she may back out and that is the last thing that she wants to do right now. “Amy slow down. What are you doing?” Noah asked her following her around like a lost puppy. That was the other reason that she had to get out. She couldn't take much more of this life. 

“I have to leave.” She said for what felt like the thousandth time. God why couldn't he understand this. She needed some space. “I’m going to New York, I just can’t do this anymore.” She knew that she sounded insane but she also knew that she was going to lose her mind if she stayed here. How was she supposed to stay in rural Missouri when Jake was out there in New York with a girl that wasn’t her.

“What?” Noah exclaimed. He put his hand on her arm to stop her from throwing more clothes in the bag. In an instant she jumped when he touched her. “Have you been taking your medicine.”

“Medicine?” Amy asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Amy you have to take those pills. You will feel better if you do. We go over this all the time.”

“I don’t know what pills your talking about. You’re never going to understand this so I’m not going to try to explain this to you. But I have to go..” 

He lifted his hand off her arm and she ziped her up her bag. She probably didn’t have everything that she needed but it’s not like this was her stuff anyways. Worst case scenario she would just buy a bunch of new stuff in New York. After she got a job hopefully. “Is this about Jake?” he asked and she stopped dead in her tracks. 

“What?” She asked singing along to look at him. How on Earth did he know about Jake? Was he in on this? Was he one of Edgar’s friends?

“Is this about Jake and thinking that you’re a detective at the nine nine?”

“First of all I’m a sergeant at the nine nine, second of all how do you know about them?”

“Amy we’ve had this conversation like _twenty_ times. They are not real, they’re just fragments of your imagination. Your therapist said that they are part of your psychosis.”

“I don’t have psychosis.” Amy retorted grabbing her bag up off the floor and heading towards the door. 

“Yes you do babe. I know that it’s hard to hear and that you never get used to it but you do. This life that you’ve imagined in New York, it doesn't exist.”

“Yes it does.” Amy said. “It happened. I lived there. I worked in the nine nine for over ten years and married my best friend. You are not my husband.”

Noah sighed. “Yes I am. Jake is not real. That family that you’ve created for yourself. The one with seven brothers is not real. I know that it’s hard to hear, I do because we go through this all the time.”

“It’s real.” Amy said.

“No Amy it's not!” Noah yelled at her. “Do you know how heartbreaking it is for your mother to have to go through you telling her you don’t know her. Do you know how sad it makes me when you tell me that we’re not married and you don’t love me because your love someone else? Amy it fucking sucks for everyone. But the life that you think you’re missing is not real. It did not happen.” Amy pulled her phone out of her pocket quickly searching Jake’s facebook page that she had spent a little too much time on the night before. “What are you doing?” she heard Noah ask her before she showed him her phone.

“They are real.” She said handing him the phone. He took one glance at it before handing it back to her. “He’s real.”

“You’ve shown me this page Every. Single. Time.” Noah said. “He is a real person. Yes. But you were not married to him. You don’t know him. He’s married to someone else, he’s got a life and that does not involve you. He doesn't know you and he definitely doesn't love you.”

“You know what Noah? Fuck you.” She said feeling anger bubble up in her veins. He didn’t know what he was talking about. “I am going to New York and you can’t stop because I am grown woman capable of making my own decisions and if you really loved me you would let me go.” she said before grabbing her bag and walking out of the house slamming the door shut behind her. 

She smiled to herself the whole way to the airport and through the paperwork it took to quit her job as a flight attendant. She had never bought a one way ticket to anywhere, but a one way ticket to New York seemed to look pretty perfect.


	11. Chapter 11

**Gina**

Gina sat there scrolling through Nordstrom online. It had been a pretty uneventful day. Jake and _Valerie_ were still down in Florida so it was far more quiet than it should’ve been. She hated when it was this quiet in the nine nine. It usually meant that something was wrong. Which it kind of was, the rest of them just didn’t know it.

She needed new clothes. In her hurry to get out of Portland she had decided to not pack anything. Not that there was anything in that house that she would’ve wanted but still. So she scrolled through the website adding things to her shopping cart that she’s bought before. 

Her and Milton had been texting almost all night long and although he didn’t admit it, she had a feeling that she was the other girl Charles said that he was interesting in. Yeah he didn’t remember her and that sucked, but she was starting to see this as her second chance. She was going to get to fall in love with him all over again. Relive all those days when they were blissfully happy. Those days that Leslie Knope referred to as the bubble. Maybe she should tell Milton that she hasn’t seen Parks and Rec so that they can watch it all over again. That would be fun.

She added another cute blouse to her bag as the elevator ding announced that the doors were opening. Gina didn’t even bother looking up. Charles had left a long time ago to go and catch some perp. It was just him. Nothing exciting. So she continued to scroll, only glancing up when she heard Terry cough.

That’s when she saw her. Amy Santiago standing in the center of the bullpen looking like a lost puppy. Gina was on her feet in an instant rushing towards the girl. Before she knew what she was doing her arms were being thrown around Amy in a tight hug. It took Amy a second to respond but then she held onto Gina just as tight. “We need to talk.” Amy whispered in her.

“That’s the understatement of the year.” Gina replied letting go and coughing as if she was allergic to any kind of emotion. What just happened had never and would never happen again and both girls knew it. It was the very first time that Gina had been happy, no _joyous,_ to see Amy Santiago.

Amy followed Gina down the hall and into the girls restroom. Amy peared under the stall doors to make sure they were alone while Gina locked the door behind her. “What the fuck is this?” Gina asked the second she turned around to face Amy.

Amy looked just as stunned as Gina felt. “I don’t know. You remember me right?”

Gina stared at her like she was an idiot. She had just practically leaped out her chair running across the bullpen to hug her and Amy’s first question is does she know her. “Yes I know you.” Gina responded trying not to sound annoyed. Amy was the only person in this universe that knew how the real her is, it’s probably best to play nice she decided. “I know the real you, the one that worked here.” 

“Okay good.” Amy said. “And I know the real you. I assume nobody out there does?” Gina shook her head and Amy nodded clearing trying to comprehend everything that was going on. “Did you start here? In New York? Working at the nine nine?”

“No.” Gina replied. “When I woke up after the earthquake which I assume you also felt.” Amy nodded. “I was in a hospital up in Portland Maine. They told me that I fell down a flight of stairs and when I woke up I didn’t know where I was or who my parents were. What about you?”

“Rural Missouri.” Amy said and Gina made a face of disgust that perfectly summed up how Amy felt. “I don’t even know what the town was called or if there even was a town there. It was all just farmland. I was a flight attendant.”

“Gross.” Gina said. “At least you were alone. I was still living with my parents.”

“I didn't say I was alone.” Amy said. “I had a husband.” Gina’s eyes widened slightly. “His name was Noah and he was a farmer.”

“Eww. A _farmer._ Amy get some standards.”

“There’s nothing wrong with dating a farmer.” Amy said. “But obviously I was not happy.” She concluded. “How long have you been working here? The last time I came you weren’t here.”

“About a week.” Gina said. “You’ve been here?”

“Yeah. I had a flight that went through New York and I made a little pit stop. Jake wasn’t here.” Gina’s face fell at the mention of Jake. Amy had no idea that he had another wife that the nine nine said that he absolutely adored. “Neither was his _wife._ Thank god.” Amy said proving Gina wrong.

“You know about Valerie?” Gina asked in shock. Amy nodded pulling a picture out of her bag and handing it to Gina. It was a picture of Jake and the girl on their wedding day. At least she assumed it was their wedding. The background appeared to be Shaw’s. Jake and Valerie were both laughing at something. Valerie’s eyes were trained straight ahead while Jake’s were looking down at her as if she was the only thing in the entire world that mattered.

“Jake has the same on on his desk in real life, only it’s obviously me in the picture.”

“I’m sorry.” Gina said her voice barely above a whisper.

“I’m sorry that you lost Iggy and Milton.” Amy said. The pain that Gina felt was clearly reflected across Amy’s eyes and hit Gina all at once that they were the only two that could be there for each other. Nobody else was going to understand what they were going through.

Gina coughed trying to get rid of the burning in her throat. She really didn’t want to cry in front of Amy. Not yet at least. “What did you mirror say that you had to do end this?”

“I have to get Jake to admit that he believes me.” Amy responded shrugging her shoulders as if it was no big deal for her to do. “Well see how that goes. What about you?”

“I have to do one nice thing for someone else without thinking of myself.”

“Are you serious?” Amy exclaimed. “That’s all you have to do? That is so easy.”

“It’s easier said than done.” Gina said. “How am I supposed to do something without thinking of myself when the whole goal is to get out of this curse. My motivation is corrupt.”

“Oh.” Amy said realizing that it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. “It’s okay. We can do this. We can both complete those goals and get out of this. I mean you’re looking at two girls who fixed a leaky toilet that one time.”

“Do you not remember the amount of damage we did in order to fix it? They still haven’t fixed the sink.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Amy said. “The means will justify the ends. Do you think that you can help me get a job here?” 

“I can go talk to Holt and see what I can do.”

One conversation later and Amy had a job at the nine nine again. It wasn’t doing police work like she had hoped it would be but she also didn’t go to the academy or any of that in this life. So she settled for what was basically office secretary thankful to have a job at all. 

“Do you know where Jake is?” Amy asked Gina later when they were walking down the busy streets to the food truck that they had agreed to go to. “I was really hoping that he would be here.”

“He’s in Coral Palms.”

“Why?” Amy asked and Gina then explained to her almost everything that was different in this life. How Valerie went down to Florida with him and how he narrowly avoided prison. She tells her everything that she’s learned that’s different about everyone and Amy tries her hardest to follow along. “How far along is she?” Amy asks when there is a slight break in the conversation.

“What?” Gina asks clearly confused by the sudden change in discussion. “How far along is who?”

“Valerie.” Amy says looking down at the ground. “Is she showing yet? I don’t think that I can handle to be around her if she is.”

Gina hesitated a moment before speaking, her mind trying to connect the dots although it wasn’t that hard. “Were you pregnant before all this?” Gina took her silence as a yes. “I’m so sorry.” Gina said not sure what else to say. “That’s awful.” Amy only nodded and Gina imagined that she wasn’t talking because she too was not ready to cry in front of her. “Nobody has said anything to me about Valerie being pregnant so they must not have told anyone yet. Either that or she’s not pregnant.” They both were silent as they both knew that she was. 

“Hey listen.” She said and she could not believe these words were about to come out of her mouth. “Would you want to stay with me? I have an apartment in the same building that I used to live in. It’s two rooms and i’m not used to living alone and would really like the company of someone who knows-”

Amy cut off her rambling and Gina sent a prayer to God because she really did not know where she was going with that. And the more she talked the more she said things that she knew she would regret this time tomorrow. “I would love too.” Gina only smiled. What had she gotten herself into to?

Later that night, Gina unlocked the door to let Amy into the small two bedroom apartment that she was barely able to afford. “It’s nice.” Amy said walking around and looking out the window. Gina set her phone down on the counter and followed Amy further into the apartment pointing out which room would be hers. 

Somewhere in the distance her phone buzzed, and later once Amy had returned to her own room, gina would flip the phone upside down to see that she had received a text from Milton. “Do you want to go to dinner tomorrow night?”


	12. Chapter 12

**Jake**

Jake sat next to Valerie opposite of Holt’s desk. “Why are we here so early?” he asked his foot bouncing up and down. Was it from nerves? He didn't know. He wasn’t exactly nervous to tell Holt about the baby, that would be crazy.

“You know that I like to be early to things and this is kinda a big deal.” Valerie responded and Jake nodded his head as the elevator dinged and Captain Holt striped off the elevator coming into his small office.

“Ah my two favorite detectives.” He said and Valerie practically fell out of her seat. Jake tried not to laugh at how predictable she can be sometimes. “To what do I owe the pleasure.”

Jake watched Valerie take a deep breath trying to compose herself as she reached out and took Jake’s hand into hers. “We have some exciting news to share.” She said with a smile and Jake rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand sharing the same smile. “We are expecting a baby this spring.”

“Hot damn.” Holt exclaimed rising out of his chair. “I just won three hundred bucks.”

“Um what?” Jake asked glancing over at Valerie who had the same confused facial expression. Jake had imagined this conversation ever since Valerie told him that they were having a baby and he never once saw it going that way.

“I just won three hundred dollars.” Holt said as if it was the most obvious thing.

“We know but why?” Valerie asked before groaning realizing exactly what he meant. “Don’t tell me people were betting on when we were going to be having a baby.” She tooks Holt’s silence as a yes before groaning again.

“Wait why wasn’t I included in this bet?” Jake asked.

“Because you would’ve known when we were having a baby dummy.” Valerie said. “God why does everyone keep betting on our unborn child? That’s not what we are here for though. We wanted you to know because we plan on telling the squad later today.”

“Thank you for the heads up. I’m sure you are aware that you will be on desk duty before too much longer.”

“Yes sir.” Valerie said. Jake had expected that would be her biggest problem during this pregnancy but so far she didn’t really seem to be phased by it. That doesn't mean that she won’t be when it ends up happening. He can already picturing her storming into their house on the brink of tears saying that it’s not fair. He would comfort her and tell her that’s it’s not fair. That he wished he could take away all the sucky parts of pregnancy. But they both know that he can’t and for right now it just has to be this way. 

More people started making their way into the bullpen as Jake and Valerie exited Holt’s office. “So tell people during morning briefing??”

“Sounds good.” Jake replied giving her a quick goodbye kiss before she headed downstairs. Jake sat down at his desk and turned on his computer, when he glanced back up his gaze meet the eyes of the flight attendant from last week.

He got up out of his seat and made his way over to her. The second he started moving she seemed to find herself completely fascinated by the paper that she was holding. “Hey!” Jake said and when she glanced back up, he noticed that her cheeks were completely rose colored. For a moment he wondered if he had done something wrong by coming over here. Did she not want to speak to him. “This is going to be really awkward if you’re not, but you were the flight attendant on my flight from St. Louis to Orlando right?”

The girl looked at him for a moment a confused look closing her face. “Uh no.” she said after a moment. “I’m not a flight attendant.”

“That’s so strange.” Jake responded. “I mean the girl looked just like you.”

“My twin sister is a flight attendant.” The girl responded in hurry smiling slightly to herself. “Technically we’re identical and people always say that they can’t tell us apart, but I don’t see it.” She continued. “She must’ve been your flight attendant.”

“That’s so crazy.” Jake said and the girl nodded. “I’m Jake Peralta.” he said extending his hand to her which she took. As they shook hands, he was taken back to the moment that he first met Valerie outside the elevator doors and how strong her hand shake was. It was later that he found out that she actually attended a seminar, and thus became a crush that would blossom into a kind of love he didn’t even know that he was capable of feeling. “Are you new here? I haven’t seen you before.”

“Oh yeah I am.” she said. “Moved here from Oregon and needed a job for a little while.”

“Oregon that’s quite a move.” he replied.

“Yeah. It was kind of on an impulse move too.” she replied. 

“Well welcome to the nine nine then.” he said before starting to turn back to his desk. It was then that he realized that she never told him her name. “I’m sorry.” he said turning back around. “What’s your name?”

“Amy.” she said and just like that the ringing in his ears from the plane was back, only this time it seemed much louder than it was before.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Amy.” he said before heading back to his desk. He felt like the room was spinning and he was terrified that if he stood up right now he would fall over, so he gripped the edges of his desk and prayed that it would all stop.

After about a minute the ringing went away the room stopped spinning and he was able to glance up from the one blue tile that he had been staring at. _What the hell was that?_

“Alright morning briefing!” Terry called out before getting up and heading into the briefing room. Jake took a deep breath and prayed that the world would stay still for the time that it took him to get into the chair. He followed Boyle into the briefing room sitting down next to him and smiling to Valerie when she came in.

Holt stood in front of everyone giving out common briefing room things such as crime statistics and new cases. Jake watched out of the corner of his eye as Amy nodded several times writing things down as if she was the one that would be working on the cases. She was sitting at the front of the room next to the other new girl, Gina maybe. The two girls seemed like they already knew each other as when there Holt would pause for a moment they would lean in and whisper something to each other.

“No without further ado, detective Peralta and Creager have an announcement they would like to make.” Holt said before taking a seat towards the front of the room. Jake got up from where he was sitting following Valorie up to the front. He tried not to smile too widely thinking of how everyone was going to react. 

“Thank you for your attention.” Valerie said and Jake saw Gina roll her eyes. It took him a second to realize that she was a different girl than Stacey, as the eye roll absolutely screamed Stacey. “Jake and I have an exciting announcement to make.” She continued and Jake knew that Charles already knew what they were going to say just by the way he was all but squirming out of his seat. “We are expecting a baby this spring.”

“Oh. My. God.” Charles screamed punctuating each word. “My prayers have been answered.”

“Such a weird thing to pray about.” Jake said.

“How long have you guys known?” Terry asked.

“About eightish weeks.” Valerie responded. “It was really hard to keep it a secret.”

“Really hard.” Jake agreed.

“Congratulations.” Rosa said and they both nodded in response. Gina and Amy both stayed silent at the front of the room. Occasionally Jake would notice the subtle glance that Gina would give Amy and the sad smile that Amy looked up at the two of them with. He tried not to think about it for too long as the longer he did the more the room began to swing back and forth. 

**Amy**

Amy sat at her desk desperately trying to ignore the urge to throw up. She had never really liked working a floor below the detectives although she would never admit it. It pained her every day when she would arrive at work and have to leave Jake in the elevator. She loved being a sergeant, she really did, but after spending five plus years with him, it was hard sometimes. Although right now she was very thankful that Valerie worked a floor below them. She wasn’t sure that she would be able to handle Valerie sitting at her desk across from him.

It was hard to be here and not be a cop. The urge to get involved was way to tempting. Everything she did here right now kind of felt meaningless. The only thing to do was scroll through internet polls and random Buzzfeed quizzes. Something that Amy Santiago wouldn’t even dream about doing during a work day. But that didn’t matter she reminded herself. In this curse there were no consequences as it wasn’t real, so what’s the point of not living a little. 

Charles walked by her desk holding a case file that he dropped onto Jake’s desk. “You should probably call Valerie.” he said opening the file and showing Jake some pictures of a body. “Exact same why that she found that one down on the corner of fifth and Cornerside.”

Amy remembered that case. It was a pretty gruesome murder. The guy had been thrown out the window of his seventh floor apartment the found him he had the fraction 2/11 burned onto his back. At the time she had contacted the morgue and found out that there had in fact been someone else who was thrown out their apartment window with a 1/11 on their back. 

Amy watched as Jake flips the picture over and sure enough there was a 3/11 burnt into this victims back. “Yep.” Jake agreed. “Has to be the same guy.” She watched Jake grab his phone and she assumed that he probably had just texted Valerie. Before Amy could stop herself she found herself walking over to where the two men were standing. 

“Where did he work?” She asked and when they both glanced up at her with startled and confused looks she took a step back. “Sorry I watch a lot of crime shows. I find everything about this line of work so cool.”

“Samesies.” Jake said. “The guy worked at a seven eleven. We think that the killer is somehow associated with the store. Maybe a boss who is killing of employees who wronged him.”

“What if the seven eleven is a front for something else?” Amy asked. 

Jake tilted his head side to side to consider the suggestion. “It could be.” he said as the elevator door dinged and Valerie god off the elevator. “We interviewed everyone that has worked within the past six months and everyone currently working there. For the other two murders they had an alibi.”

“Victim number three finally showed up?” Valerie asked taking the picture from Jake. “That’s too bad. It’s been so long I really kind of thought that he was done.”

“It is strange that he took off for an entire year and a half. Why the sudden break? He killed the other two within a day of each other.” Jake asked.

“I still think that it’s a front for money laundering.” Valerie said.

“That’s what Amy said.” Jake said. Valerie glanced up offering a tight smile before looking back down at the pictures of the dead body.

“We ran the numbers that they were reporting last time when victim number two ended up dying and there was no way that they should’ve been making that much money” Valerie said grabbing the folder from him and pulling out a bunch of paper that Amy recognized. She had spent hours over those pages trying to figure out if there was any way that she could arrest them.

“I say that we go stop by and pick them up. Separate them all in interview rooms and one of them is bound to crack.” Jake said.

“That sounds good.” Valerie agreed. “Give me just a second.” she said.

“Wait-” Jake said. “You’re not going.”

“Yes I am.”

“Val.” Jake said standing up from his desk and following her to the elevator. Even from where they were standing waiting for it to take them back to the floor of detectives Amy could hear their conversation. “We’ve talked about this. As little field work as possible.”

“This isn't’ dangerous.” Valerie said and Jake rocked back and forth on his feet. She could tell that he was trying to figure out how to tell her no without coming across as a butt. “It’s just money laundering.”

“Who we suspect to be murders.” Jake reminded her. “Look.” he said putting his hands in the air the way he did anytime they would start to have a fight but then he would decide that it’s not worth it. “I’m not going to tell you what to do just remember that you’re making decisions for two people.”

“Fine.” Valerie huffed as the elevator doors opened up. “But you have to be just as safe too, you may not be caring this child, but me and this child need you alive.” She said as she stepped on the elevator.

“I will.” Jake said. “I promise.” he said right as the elevator doors closed. “Ready Boyle?” Jake shouted and soon they were both gone and out on the streets heading towards the seven eleven.

Amy sat back down at her desk feeling slight defeated that she wasn’t able to go out with them. That was her case after all. She sat there staring at her computer until eventually they both came back in followed by at least ten men. They separated the guys up into individual interrogation rooms before Jake called Valerie backup.

Amy tried to not focus on what was going on in each room or whether or not they were asking the right questions. It wasn’t her case anymore. She reminded herself. Just like how this isn’t her life anymore.

Eventually Jake came back out with one guy. “We got him!” Jake shouted and the bullpen erupted into applause. Amy couldn’t help but clap along. Maybe in the real world she would finally be able to arrest the guy who did the other two. Maybe the third guy won’t be dead yet and she will get to save his life. That brought a small smile to her face. 

“Congratulations.” She heard Holt say and she watched the way Jake smiled at the recognition. 

“Shaws tonight.” Rosa said standing up from her desk that’s when Amy realized that it was five o clock. “Eight?”

“Sounds good.” Jake said sitting back down at his desk to presumably do his paperwork. Amy grabbed her bag deciding that she can’t stay here anymore. Gina followed her out of the building trailing closely behind her. 

“I’m sorry.” Gina said.

“It’s fine.” Amy lied and the two walked home together in complete silence.

**Gina**

Gina walked out of her room at around seven to find Amy still sitting on the couch just as she was when they stepped through the door. “How do I look?” Gina asked. She was wearing a brand new dress. It was a blush color of pink and she would be lying if she didn’t say that she looked absolutely gorgeous in it.

Amy glanced up for a second before her gaze fell back on the television that was playing an episode of some show that Gina didn’t know. “You look nice.” she said her eyes never leaving the tv. “Where are you going?”

“Out to dinner with Milton.” Gina siad. That got Amy’s attention as her head immediately snapped up. “It’s not a big deal.” Gina said passively but they both knew that it was in fact a big deal. 

“Yes it is!” Amy said. “You’re going on a date with him! Isn’t he still married?”

“Technically yes.” Gina said. “But they are probably about to get a divorce. He’s not happy with her.”

“Well have fun then.” Amy said returning her attention to the tv.

“Are you going to Shaws with everyone tonight?” Gina asked and Amy only shook her head. “Why not?”

“I don’t want to be surrounded by a bunch of people who I know like the back of my hand but they don’t even know my last name.” Amy said. “But have fun with milton. I’ll be okay. Malcolm in the middle is like my favorite show.”

Gina nodded before grabbing her bag off the counter and heading outside for the quick walk towards the restaurant. It was nice restaurant. They had never been to it before the curse, but most of what they were eating was take out food from the Italian place right by their house. “You look stunning.” Milton said the second that he saw her giving Gina the only validation that she needed.

“You don’t look so bad yourself.” Gina replied as the two of them got seated at a booth in the back of the restaurant. Everything about it was perfect. The dim lighting and the fact that there was no one around them. 

They talked for what felt like hours saying everything and nothing at the same time. It felt good to just sit with him and hear his voice. To know that he did still exist. He talked about Stacey briefly and how he does think that they are going to get a divorce. He talked about Iggy and maybe trying to get full custody.

She talked about her life in Portland. Or rather her fake made up right on the spot life in Portland. She talked about growing up as an only child and how it shaped the way she sees the world. That part was at least accurate. She told him that she moved to New York for a fresh start and how right now that was looking pretty great. 

Eventually both of them had finished everything that was on their plate and they were headed back outside into the cold. “I had a really great time tonight.” Milton said as they neared her apartment building.

“Me too.”

“I would love to do this again.”

“More than anything.” Gina responded trying to not cringe at how awkward and desperate that sounded. This was all new to her. The stakes had never been higher. “Maybe this weekend?” She asked. God it was pathetic how badly she wanted to see him again.

“Definitely.” he said swaying back and forth on his feet. She stuffed her hands into her coat pocket waiting for him to make the first move. She was not going to it. She would never be the first person to lean on on the first date.

He blew out air and she watched it turn to smoke before he leaned down to kiss. She smiled against him taking her hands out of her pocket and placing them on either side of his face. “I really like you.” he said when they both pulled back. “I don’t know what it is, but I find myself completely drawn to you.”

“I feel the same way.” Gina responded and for a moment she wondered if he felt drawn to her because of how he felt about her in the real life. Was she thinking that much into it. “I should probably go.” She said after a minute her mouth betraying her heart. “It’s pretty cold.”

“Of course.” Milton said. “I will text you.” Gina nodded before heading into the apartment building. As she made her way up to their floor she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. Only she would find a way to outsmart the wizard and make this curse her permanent home.


	13. Chapter 13

**Jake**

Jake turned over for what felt like the thousandth time that night. His brain just would not shut up no matter how hard he tried. Every time that he would get close to falling asleep his mind would wander right back to _her._

It was a strange feeling. Something that he had never felt before when he thinks about her. The best way he can describe it is as being in a hot air balloon that just keeps going up. The more he thinks about her the more he starts feeling light headed. It’s even worse when she’s in the room though. That’s when all hell breaks loose. It feels like the entire room is put into one of those machines that Nasa uses to test astronauts ability to handle g force levels. And there is no way that he would be able to pass one of those. 

“Stop tossing and turning.” Valerie said her voice cutting through the silence in the room. He thought that she was asleep. “You woke me up.”

“Sorry.” He said turning on his side to face her. He wrapped his arm around her and decided that he wasn’t going to move again. He was going to lay here and he wasn’t going to open his eyes again until there alarm was going off and it was time to get up for work.

Of course it didn't quite work out that way. 

By the time that there alarm clock was going off, he was convinced that he _maybe_ slept for two hours and that was being generous. Valerie rolled out of bed and quickly made her way to the bathroom turning on on the bedroom lights on the way. Jake threw his hands over his eyes to try and stop the light from blinding him. 

Eventually he decided that he probably should get out of bed and get ready for work. It’s not like he was going to be able to fall asleep anyways. His mind was still almost entirely composed of her dark brown eyes. The ones that he’s sworn that he’s seen before. When he first looked into her eyes, he swore that he had done it a million times before. This was this intense sense of deja vu that washed over him. So badly that it almost made him sick to his stomach. 

The ride to work was quiet. Which was unusual for the two of them. He could tell that Valerie wanted to ask him what was wrong but wasn't sure how to ask. Which actually worked out for him because he wasn't even sure how to explain what he was feeling to her. Plus he didn’t want her to get nervous or worried about the fact that her husband's mind was almost completely filled with another woman. Not that she meant anything to him, because he was happily committed to Valerie and nothing was going to change that. But it would still concern Valerie. 

Valerie kissed him goodbye before getting off the elevator and then he headed up to his desk. Amy was already there when he walked in. He tried not to look at her, terrified that the room may start spinning again. So he sat down at his desk trying to get some work done before going out into the field.

The whole time that he was filling out paperwork, he could feel eyes on him. Judging by the way the back of his neck was beginning to tingle, he assumed that it was probably her. When it became too much to handle, without thinking, he found himself in the evidence room texting Rosa.

“What?” she asked barging into the room slamming the evidence door shut behind her. “This better be damn important.”

“Do you recognize the new girl?” Jake asked.

“Which one?” 

“Amy.” Jake responded. He waited a moment but nothing happened. He sighed a slight breath of relief before continuing. “I’m like ninety nine percent sure that I know her from somewhere else.”

“Nah.” Rosa said. “She doesn't look familiar to me.” 

“Her twin sister was my flight attendant when I went down to Coral Palms.” 

Rosa’s eyes widen in surprise. “That’s kind of shocking.” She said. “What are the odds.”

“I know.” Jake responded. “That has to be the biggest coincidence in history right?” 

“I don’t know that seems really weird.” Rosa responded. “I mean honestly both her and the other new girl seem to be a little weird.”

“Right?” Jake asked. “Gina and Stacey seem just a little bit too similar for comfort.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Rosa said as Scully opened the evidence door room and came in.

“Aw man!” He exclaimed. “What are you two doing in here?”

It was later that day, when Jake was working on paperwork that Valerie walked into the precinct. “Hey Jake.” He spun around in his chair to see her coming towards him with both her parents in tow. “Have you taken your lunch break yet? I thought that we could all go out to eat. I already emailed Holt to let him know.”

“Oh yeah.” Jake said smiling. “That sounds great.” he said standing up from his desk and grabbing his coat. On his way towards the elevator he couldn't help but notice the way that Amy had suddenly shrunk in her chair and how she was trying to hide her face from the entire bullpen. He studied her face trying to figure out why she looked so upset until the elevator doors closed blocking his view of her. And then he pushed her out of his mind because he was going to lunch with his wife whom he loved very much.

After a wonderful lunch that didn’t seem quite long enough, Jake found himself back in the nine nine. Valerie and her dad followed him up to the detective floor where Victor wanted to speak with Holt. It was like all of Valerie's dreams had come true. 

As Victor walked past Amy’s desk, Jake once again took notice of the way the girl's entire posture changed. She went from sitting up, back straight as an arrow, to practically hunching over trying desperately not to be noticed. He watched as she got up out of her seat and fled down the hallway as soon as Valerie and Victor made their way into Holt’s office. 

While Jake sat there trying to come up with a reason that she reacted like that, his brain started screaming at him to follow her. It was almost like a primal instinct to be near her and find out what was wrong so he could comfort her. 

He tried to shake the thought out of his head as he found himself moving towards the evidence room. He pushed the door open to find her pacing back and forth between boxes of cocaine and murder weapons. She had her hand over her mouth and he could tell that she was trying to regulate her breath. 

When she turned around and came face to face with him, her face went as white as a ghost. She stopped pacing all together her hands falling from where they were rested on her face. “Sorry.” He said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He said watching the way she swallowed thickly clearly trying to compose herself.

“You’re okay.” She whispered not offering any further explanation as to why she was pacing back and forth acting like she was about to have a panic attack. “I just needed a breather.”

“Sure.” Jake agreed. “I get that.” he didn’t say anything swaying back and forth on his feet only somewhat regretting coming back here. Still it oddly put his mind to ease to be here with her. 

“It’s been a bit of a stressful day.” she said through the silence and Jake sighed a breath of relief. He always hated silence. _Always._ But silence with her for some reason was almost unbearable. He decided to add that into the list of strange things that he feels when she’s in the room. Things that the doctors are probably going to say were the warning sign of the massive brain tumor that had to be developing. “I’ve always found this room. Evidence rooms in general to be really kind of calming.”

“I actually totally get that.” He said and she smiled at him and there was a tiny part of him that wanted to make her smile everyday. Her smile reminded him a lot of Valeries. “I’ve had a lot of milestones in this room.”

“Like what?” Amy asked without skipping a beat. 

“For starters I killed a guy in here.” he said with a slight laughing knowing exactly how insane that probably comes across.

“What?” Amy asked almost a beat too late but he didn’t notice it. “You killed a guy?”

“Kind of.” Jake said shrugging. “He had a heart attack, so technically we did not kill him, his heart did, but the doctors say that we startled him into the heart attack.”

“That’s awful.”

“Yeah.” Jake agreed. “But I made some better memories in here. For starters, this is the place that I kissed my wife for the first time. Kind of changed my life.” Amy smiled slightly. “I also proposed to her in here.”

“Can you tell me about it?” Amy asked suddenly and there was a look of hopefulness in her eyes and she smiled that warm smile. “I love a good proposal story.”

“I don’t think it’s the best, although everyone around here seems too.” Jake said before recounting the story. “It was the during the halloween heist.” he said before realizing that she had no idea what the heist was. So he became a little sidetracked telling her about how Holt and him started a tradition that morphed into the entire precinct. “She thought that she had won the heist.” he said. “When she came in here and found the belt I told her to read the inscription, and of course it read will you marry me.”

Amy smiled warmly at him as he tried to ignore that seemingly constant ringing in his ears. Maybe he really did need to go see the audiologist. “Hey!” Charles said walking into the evidence room. “Valerie was looking for you.”

Jake cleared his throat and watched the way Amy shifted almost uncomfortably. “Sorry. I was looking for that case file.” he said grabbing a random case file off the shelf. He’s not entirely sure why he lied, but for some reason he felt the urge to. That was probably not good. 

Later, he’s at home with Valerie eating take out chinese food out of plastic cartons while he listens to her talk about her day. The ringing never stopped but he was finding that he was slowly becoming used to it. Still not sure if that’s considered a good thing or not but at least the room isn’t still spinning. 

“Babe?” Valerie asks him placing a hand on his forearm. It’s then that he realizes he’s been sitting numbly still staring at the wall. He glances over at her and is completely taken back by what he sees. Because sitting next to him on the couch isn’t his wife. Instead it’s the girl that he’s been thinking about almost twenty four hours a day. “Pineapples?” Amy asks him a concerned look on her face. “Is everything okay?” Her eyebrows knit together in confusion and his skin feels like it is on fire from where she is rubbing circles into his arm. 

He leaps off the couch so fast, his take out carton falls to the ground spilling rice all over the floor. After blinking several times and taking a few deep breaths, everything was back to normal and it was Valerie standing up off the couch to grab him. “Jake!” she said. “What is going on?” she demanded and he could tell that she was concerned. As one should be. 

“Nothing.” he said running a hand through his hair swallowing thickly. He should tell her the truth. He needs to tell her that he just had a hallucination. But yet he can’t find the words. He doesn't know how to tell her that he just imagined that she was someone else. He doesn't want her to worry. Because there is not a problem. Right? “I think that I just need to go to bed. I may be coming down with something.”

“Oh.” Valerie said her face falling. He knew that she wanted to clean up the rice but still she stayed there with him, hugging him tightly to her neither one saying a thing.


	14. Chapter 14

**Gina**

Gina and Amy were both sitting on the couch watching an episode of Friends that Amy had found one some chanel. Gina had objected at first, wanting to spend her Friday night doing anything other than watching an old ass show that she never even liked as it aired. But then Amy had looked at her with her big brown eyes that were full of sadness. So for the last hour and half she’s been sitting here staring blankly at the screen.

There was a knock at the door and Amy’s head lifted up from the pillow and blanket cocoon that she had wrapped herself in. “Who on Earth is here this late at night?” She said taping her phone screen, the bright light illuminating the dark room. “It’s ten thirty at night.” 

“So late.” Gina said clearly mocking her as she stood up from where she had been seated on the couch. Honestly she was happy to be able to get away for a second. It felt good to finally stretch her legs. She peered through the peephole, an instant smile forming on her face when she saw who was on the other side of the door.

“Who is it?” Amy called out as Gina swung the door open to be face to face with Milton.

“Hey!” She exclaimed throwing her arms around him. She’s decided that she’s going to own just being desperate. It’s a part of curse Gina’s life and she’s decided that she’s not going to try and change it. “What are you doing here? I thought that we were going to go out tomorrow night?”

“I know.” Milton said. “But I needed to get out of the house, Stacey was driving me insane. And then I thought, you know what? I’ve never been to Gina’s place. So I grabbed food and decided what the heck. You haven’t eaten have you?”

“Actually no.” Gina said. “We had a light dinner before sitting down in front of the tv,” She said gesturing to Amy and the episode that was still running.

“Oh.” Milton said clearly taken aback before leaning into to whisper to her. “Sorry I didn’t know that you don’t live alone.”

“It’s alright.” Gina said. “Amy’s my friend. She also just moved here from Missouri.” Gina said. “We went to school together in elementary. Come on in.” She said internally cringing at how weird that sounds. She really didn’t want Milton to know that she was living with someone.

Amy got up off the couch and came to sit down next to them at the dinner table. “Do you have enough for me?” She asked Milton. “It’s okay if you don’t.”

“Oh no, I’ve got plenty.” he said as Amy grabbed a plate and dumped some rice on to it.

“So how many dates have you guys been on now?” Amy asked.

“Six.” Gina said automatically before adding. “I think.” So maybe she wasn’t completely comfortable in this whole desperation thing, but she was working on it.

“That’s great.” Amy said and once again Gina felt bad. She was going on dates, kissing and even having sex with her real husband while Amy could barely even have a conversation with hers. Edgar might have done her a favor here by making Milton not completely in love with Stacy's like Jake was with Valerie. 

The three of them then fell into complete silence. So much so that it was almost unbearable. She racked her brain thinking of something to talk about but she was coming up dry. She never had this problem when it was her and Milton. 

Finally after what felt like hours, Amy finally spoke. “So are you and Stacey getting a divorce? Sorry I don’t mean to be rude, I’ve just heard a lot of gossip about it at the nine nine.”

If this was the real world, Gina would leap across the table and claw the girl’s throat out. Yet she remained in her seat acting completely poised and indiferente to the question. The truth was, she’s been wanting to ask that for a while, but didn’t know how. It didn’t matter if Amy asked, Amy was just her friend that he’s just met.

“It’s kind of complicated.” Milton said. “We are going to get a divorce, I’ve already hired a lawyer and everything, but Stacey is being a little bit of a pain about it. She wants to stay together but doesn't want to put any work to fix what’s wrong. Plus neither one of us are happy with the other so I’m not even sure that I want to put in the work.” Amy nodded not saying anything in response. It was times like these that Gina would absolutely love to know what she’s thinking.

Soon all the plates were clear and they were cleaning up anything that was left over. “Thank you for dinner.” Gina said to Milton as she walked him to the door. “Next time text me when you’re coming over and I’ll make sure that Amy’s gone.”

Milton laughed. “It’s no worry. She’s seems nice.” Gina noded. “I should get going though. Have a good night.” He said as he leaned down and kissed her before walking out of the apartment. Gina watched him go, staring at him dreamily until Amy coughed from somewhere behind her.

“Are you insane?” Amy asks when Gina turned around and closed the door. “Why are you letting him cheat on Stacey with you?”

“Why not?” Gina asked shrugging her shoulders. “We’ve been over this, there are no consequences in this world so why not just take what I want.”

“What if.” Amy said her voice breaking slightly. Gina watched her swallow and she wondered if she was trying to hold back tears. “What if we get stuck here? Then there will be consequences.”

“I guess, but I don’t think that we are going to get stuck here and even if we do I want to be with him.”

“It’s wrong!” Amy exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air. This time Gina did notice that there were a couple of tears streaming down her face.

“Why is this making you so upset?” Gina asked. “It’s my life and I’m allowed to make whatever ‘mistakes’ that I want to.”

“Do you really not see why it’s wrong for you to be the mistress of a married man?” Amy asked.

“They’re getting divorced.” Gina said trying to defend herself. “Are you honestly telling me that if Jake were to come to you tomorrow morning and ask you if you want to start having an affair that you would say no?”

Amy was quiet for a second clearly thinking over the sudden change of tables. “I don’t know.” She said barely above a whisper. “I don’t think that I would. I would want to so badly. So _badly._ But if Jake were to ask me to have an affair then it’s not the Jake I was married to. My Jake would never cheat on me and even on Valerie.”

“So what are you saying?” Gina asked feeling anger bubble up into her. “Are you saying that Milton is not _my_ Milton?” she questioned.

“I don’t know.” Amy said. “Do you think that _you’re_ Milton would ever cheat on you?” Amy asked. 

Gina was quiet as the anger continued to course through her veins. She didn’t think that Milton would cheat on her in real life. But she also thought that everyone in the nine nine adored her in real life and they definaley did not adore Stacey. In fact it seemed to be the exact opposite. From what she could gather they don’t really seem to like Stacey at all. 

The anger and confusion she felt bubbling finally erupted in the form of a single sentence. “You’re just jealous because I am actually with my husband.” As soon as the words left her mouth she wanted nothing more than to reach out in front of her and take them back. “I’m sorry.” She said because it was the closest thing that she could do but it was too late.

“Do whatever you want Gina.” Amy said tears now steadily running down her face. “I really don’t care anymore.” She said before storming out of the living room and slamming her bedroom door shut behind her. 

Gina quickly grabbed her things out of the living room before retreating back to her own bedroom. She hovered outside Amy’s door trying to decide whether to knock or not. On the other side she could hear the sound of muffled crying. She raised her hand to knock before deciding better of it. Time heals all wounds.

She quickly put on her pajamas and climbed into her bed staring at the ceiling. Her mind was moving a thousand miles and hour trying to decide if Amy was right. Was what she doing to Stacey right? Should she wait until they are actually divorced? Her Milton wouldn’t cheat on her, despite what Amy thinks. Stacey is clearly not a carbon copy of her like Valerie is of Amy. That’s the only thing that makes sense.

She thought that she was okay with that revelation until she turned on her side to try and go to sleep. If she was really sure that was the truth, shouldn't she be able to fall asleep. Still she was laying here going over that entire conversation in her head. The only thing that she knew for sure is that what she said to Amy had crossed a line. The tears forming in her eyes burnt as they fell down her cheeks. Maybe Edgar was right, maybe she was a mean person.


	15. Chapter 15

**Amy**

It had been a pretty boring day at the nine nine. Although almost every day that she wasn’t able to be a sergeant was pretty boring at this point. She spends all day answering phone calls from complaining new york's only half listening as she scrolls through the New York Times looking for an article that she hasn't read. She should be working. She should be out on the streets catching criminals and then filling out paperwork. 

She watched from her desk as Valerie stepped off the elevator heading towards Jake’s desk. _Great_ now she has to watch another woman flirt with her husband. As if this Friday wasn’t worse enough already. 

Amy watched as Valerie whispered a couple of things to Jake clearly mad about whatever she was talking about. It was getting harder and harder for Amy to look at Valerie without wanting to break out into hysterical sobs. Every time she glanced at the girl, it was a constant reminder that she was having a baby not Amy.

Amy glanced over to where Gina was sitting scrolling through her phone. Her blood still boiled when she thought about their fight last night. The way Gina had so bluntly pointed out the fact that she wasn't with Jake. Gina had been so nice to her so far as they were the only two that knew the truth. But it all fell apart last night when she remembered why her and Gina weren’t best friends in real life. She considered her a good friend but definitely not her _best friend._

“Amy?” Valerie asked snapping Amy out of her thoughts to see that the girl was now standing right in front of her. “Would you like to go get coffee.”

“Um sure.” Amy said standing up and grabbing her coat. “Is there a list of what everyone wants?”

Valerie only laughed. “No silly, I meant the two of us just walk down there. I feel like I haven’t really gotten the chance to know you.”

Amy swallowed. Just what she wants. A chance to get to know her husbands wife. “Sounds great.” She said plastering a fake smile on her face as the two of them made their way to the elevator and outside. 

Amy shoves her hands in her coat pockets as the two of them walk in silence down the empty street. What is she supposed to say? And why on Earth did Valerie want her to go get coffee with her. 

“I know that this is super last minute.” Valerie started and Amy was honestly just glad for it not be complete silence anymore. “but we are having a baby shower tonight and we would love for you to come. You don’t have to worry about buying a gift or anything. The entire nine nine is going to be there, but I wasn’t able to get you an invitation since I don’t ever see you.” Valerie said.

“I’ll see if I can make it.” Amy replied. Sure Valerie never saw her, not that Amy was complaining, but Jake saw her all the time. He very easily could’ve given her an invite if he wanted to. So why did they decide to invite her all of a sudden? As she walked she begin to kick a rock across the pavement becoming mesmerized at the way it would jump over the cracks on the sidewalk.

When she looked back up she found herself vastly unprepared for who was walking towards the two girls. Teddy Wells. She hadn’t seen him since her wedding when he showed up with the bomb squad. “Oh my gosh.” Valerie said and Amy found herself asking what even though she knew exactly why Valerie was internally freaking out right now. “That’s my ex boyfriend.” She said just as Teddy noticed the two girls.

“Valerie Creager?” He asked his voice dripping with shock that Amy knew was completely fake. “What are the odds of seeing you here?”

“Hi Teddy.” Valerie said the same why you do when you see someone that you really don’t want to talk to in the grocery store but then realize that you can’t get out of it. 

“How are you?” Teddy asks a wide smile on his face. “How long has it been? Three years? And oh my gosh you’re pregnant congratulations.”

“Yep.” Valerie agreed. “It’s been about three years. And yeah we are expecting a baby in about two months. We’re really excited.”

“I assume you’re still with Jake?” Teddy asks and Amy could tell that there was a little bit of hopefulness in his voice. Maybe he was about to propose. She would love to see that from the outside. 

“Yeah. I’m still with Jake.” Valerie said nodding. “Well we should go.” She said trying to end the conversation before he could drop to one knee because they both knew that it was coming. “It was nice seeing you.” She said as they walked away. “He’s the _worst._ ” Valerie said once they were out of ear shot. “I dated him for about a year before Jake and he is the most boring person you will ever meet.” Valerie said before explaining how much he loved pilsners and how it was the only thing that he talked about.

“Jake and I went to this jazz brunch with him one time and he actually tried to propose to me in front of his girlfriend.” Valerie continued. “It was the most awkward thing I have ever experienced. Well that’s not true, the Maple Inn was also pretty awkward.”

“What happened at the Maple Inn?” Amy asked. She was trying to piece together just how much of Valerie’s life seemed to be hers. There were several major differences but most of it just seemed the exact same.

“I was about to break up with Teddy when Jake and I went to this bed and breakfast upstate. He had invited his girlfriend Sophia and felt bad that I was going to be alone, so he invited Teddy. When Teddy got there, we all four had dinner together and of course it came out that I wanted to break up. Teddy then proceeded to tell Jake in front of his girlfriend that I used to like him. It was levels of awkward for everyone involved.”

“That sounds awful.” Amy agreed as they stopped outside the coffee booth and placed their orders. 

“Anyways.” Valerie said once they had their coffee and were walking back to the nine nine. “What I really wanted to talk to you about is how much you remind me of myself.”

Amy laughed not really knowing what else to do. Of course she was reminded of herself. They were practically the same exact person. “I get that a lot actually. I don’t think that you’re the only person who thinks that.”

“Where did you say that you were from?” Valerie asked.

“Portland Oregon.” Amy lied remembering how she told Jake that she was from Portland to try and get him off the scent of her being his flight attendant. “It’s a nice city.”

“Yeah. I’ve been.” Valerie responded and Amy wondered if she too was lying. Amy had never been to Portland. She barely knew anything at all about Portland which is why it wasn’t a great city for her to chose to be from. “What did you do before this job? Jake said that you had decided to move to New York City on whim, how come?”

Amy knew what she was doing. She used to do this to perps all the time. Ask them enough questions until they start to get nervous, and when they start to get nervous that’s when the crack and say something that contradicts and earlier statement. Well it’s not happening to Amy. “I was a secretary at a doctor’s office.” She said as calm and collectively as she could. “I did move here on a whim, which is so unlike me. I just needed a change of pace. Had to get away from situations that I would rather not talk about.”

“Do you have any family out here or all they all in Portland?”

“No actually all of my family is out in Missouri.” Amy said. “I grew up in a small town right on the border of Illinois called Clarksville.” It was a real city. She had seen a segment about a string of murders down there. Hopefully Valerie hadn’t seen the same segment. “It was just me, my mom, my dad, and twin sister Madison.” 

“Oh you have a twin?” Valerie asked. “That is so cool. You can’t tell anyone this because we were kind of hoping to keep it a secret, but we are actually expecting twins.”

“What?!” Amy exclaimed way too loudly before she could stop herself. She almost dropped her coffee. “You’re having twins?”

“Yep.” Valerie said a smile on her face. “Nobody knows, not even our parents. Should be fun when they arrive.”

“That’s crazy.” Amy said swallowing. Back in the real world, her and Jake never had a chance to see the doctor. They had an appointment scheduled but she hadn’t been yet. Oh God, are they going to tell her that she’s having twins. She felt so conflicted on that. On one hand twins were adorable. Like _so_ adorable. On the other hand, two kids at once. She was never going to be able to sleep again. “Well congratulations.”

“Thanks.” Valerie replied. “You know I think that our flight attendant from St. Louis to Orlando was your sister.” She said it as if she was just now remembering this, but Amy had a hard time believing that was true considering that it was the first thing that Jake asked her.

“Oh yeah.” Amy replied casually shrugging her shoulders. Coincidences happen. “Crazy that happened.” She said. Maybe if she acted like it was insane too then Valerie wouldn’t be as suspicious.

“It is crazy. Almost unfathomably crazy.” She said. 

“Yeah” she responded. 

“Jake says that anytime he talks to you, he gets an intense sense of deja vu to previous moments in our relationship.”

“He talks about me?” Amy asks mentally biting on her tongue. 

“Yeah he does.” Valerie said coldly at they neared the nine nine. “And if I could just offer you a word of advice, stay the fuck away from my husband. I don’t know what little game you and your friend are playing, showing up here out of the blue destroying marriages. But I won’t let it happen to me the way that it's happening to Stacey. So do yourself a favor and leave my husband alone because if I have to tell you again then it won’t be pretty.” 

Amy’s eyes were wide. Not necessarily in fear, although it was definitely there, but more in shock. Maybe her and Valerie weren’t complete carbon copies after all because she never would've said that to another girl. “So we’ll see you at the baby shower tonight!” Valerie said her normal cipher voice back and a clear fake smile on her face for a second before the scolding frown returned and she stormed into the nine nine leaving Amy standing on the streets. 

_What the hell?_ She thought as she made her way back inside an to her desk. Luckily Valerie was a on a whole different floor. By now her coffee was cold, but even if it were still hot she didn’t think that she would be able to drink it. 

How on Earth was Valerie able to say all that to her. Amy’s noticed girls checking out Jake before. Of course she has. There’s even been times when Jake, bless his heart, had no idea that other girls were even flirting with him. She still remembers that one girl from the bar where she had to full on kiss him for the girl to get the point. But still she never had the audacity to say that to another girl.

As she was staring down at the desk going through paperwork she noticed someone walking up towards her desk. When she glanced up at the person it was none other than Teddy Wells, as if this day couldn’t get much worse.

“Hi.” Teddy said to her and she tried to smile politely even though she really wanted to yell at him to just go away already. “Are you friends with Valerie Creager? I saw the two of you walking together today.”

“Not friends.” Amy said. “Just co-workers.”

“Okay so it wouldn't be weird if I were to ask you on a date then?” Teddy asked and Amy opened her mouth to respond but was stopped when Jake came over.

“Hey Amy would you mind copying these for me?” He asked and Amy looked at him trying to figure out what was happening. He knew how to use the copier. She knew for a fact that he did as when they first got it he of course had to copy anything that was in his reach including his own hand. “Sorry was I interrupting something?” he said glancing over at Teddy.

“Yeah man you kinda were.” Teddy replied. “I was just about to ask Amy here out on a date.”

“Bummer.” Jake said. “Can you make those copies for me pronto?” Jake asked tapping the papers that were sitting on her desk.

“Yeah.” She said standing up and grabbing the papers. “The date is hard pass Teddy.” Amy added before walking away and into the break room to use the copier. From the break room she could see Teddy and Jake still talking. Teddy was clearly mad while Jake was trying to play it off like he had no idea why the guy was mad. Amy knew why Jake had done that, she just wondered if Jake knew why he had done that.

Later that night, Amy is laying in her bed staring at the ceiling when there is a light tap on the door. “Go away Gina!” Amy shouted but Gina pushed the door open anyways.

“Are you not going to this baby shower?” Gina asked but Amy didn’t say anything. Just continued to lay there and try to hold back tears. Gina came over and sat down on the edge of her bed. A part of Amy wished that she would leave, but then there was the part of her that did not want to be alone. “I’m really sorry about our fight the other day.” 

“You don’t have to.” Amy started but Gina just continued talking.

“Yes I do. I know that you’re still pissed at me and honestly you have every right to be, so please just shut up and let me apologize.” Amy didn’t say anything as she waited for Gina to continue. “I said some things that were way over the line because I felt like you were attacking me and I didn’t know what else to do but attack you back. I’ve spent my entire life trying to drag people to the level that I was at to make myself feel better about myself. And I’m only now learning that maybe people don’t like that.”

“Really-”

“Ah.” Gina said cutting her off again. “I’m not done yet. I’m am truly sorry that I said that to you and if you can’t forgive me that’s fine. But I want you know that you’re my only friend right now, and life is really kind of lonely.”

“It’s okay Gina.” Amy responded sitting up in her bed. “You got caught up in the heat of the moment. It happens to the best of us. We can just put it behind us.”

“Thank you.” Gina said with a breath of relief. “I get why you don’t want to go to the baby shower and I get that it would be incredibly difficult but isn’t there a small part of you that wants to go? Everybody is going to be there.”

“I got in a fight with Valerie earlier today.” Amy said before recounting exactly what Valerie.

“I can’t believe that she would say that to you.” Amy only nodded. “That’s all the more reason to go.”

“Why?”

“She doesn't think that you’re going to show up. I would be willing to guess that she didn’t want to invite you but Jake made her. So she yells at you and hopes that you don’t go. Don’t you want to prove her wrong?”

“I don’t know Gina.” 

“The baby shower is at your old house.” Gina said. “Don’t you want to go in there. See if anything has changed?” 

“It is in my house isn’t it?” Amy asked a small smile making its way to her face. This could be her chance to get into that house. This is probably her only chance to get into that house. “Alright. I’ll go.”

By the time the girls showed up they were only ten minutes late. Which was awful for Amy but still considered early for Gina. They walked up the front steps and Amy took a deep breath trying to tell herself that she could do this. That she could be a guest in her own house. 

Gina knocked on the door that was opened about two seconds later with a smiling Valerie. “Oh I’m so glad that you guys could make it!” She said and Amy could tell that she was faking it. There was this look in her eyes when she looked at Amy that was almost daring Amy to challenge her. “Come on in!” She said opening the door wider for the two of them.

They both came in depositing their shoes and coats before making there way to the living room. Almost everyone from the nine nine was already here as well as several people that they both knew from outside of work, because yes they had friends ouside the nine nine.

So far the house looked the exact same. Except for all the baby stuff that had been discarded neatly around the house. They had clearly been baby proofing, something that she had been immensely looking forward to. There was a whole binder and everything. 

There were gifts sitting on the mantle of the fireplace. Gifts that in a different life she would be able to open and carefully write handwritten thank you notes to everyone. She finds herself in the kitchen grabbing a plate and filling it with food that they had left out for everyone. She couldn’t help but notice the multiple pictures of ultrasounds and cute little notes in Jake’s handwriting about how big their baby was at that point. Although nobody else was likely to pay close enough attention, she could clearly see two babies in the ultrasound photo. It hurt her heart in ways that she couldn't describe.

After having a couple of polite conversations with coworkers, she found herself wandering back towards where she knew that the master bedroom was. Everybody was so busy in what they were doing it’s not like anybody saw her go back there. 

The room, just like the rest of the house, looked the exact same. The giant J and (now) V letters that she bought them at Hobby Lobby hanging over their bed and the large picture collage that her mother had gotten them when they moved into the house still sat on the wall opposite of the bed. Each picture in the college was the same only where Amy was Valerie now stood.

She opened up the closet door and sure enough Valerie owned all the same clothes that Amy owned. She then went into the bathroom and found all the same beauty products that she used to use. It shouldn’t surprise her, it really shouldn't surprise her. It’s just that this whole thing is so strange.

When she walks back into the room, that’s when she sees it. A photograph that’s fallen on the floor. Only a sliver of the top corner is showing as the rest is hidden underneath the bed. She bends down to pick up the picture and to her disbelief it’s the same one that she dropped the night her life fell apart. It was really her in the picture. It was really her in the white dress and it was really her that Jake was looking at with those adoring eyes. Not Valerie. Before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face as she put the picture into her pocket as to not ruin it. She tried to dry her eyes with her sleeve when the bedroom door opened. 

A million thoughts started running through her mind as Jake stepped into the room. How was she supposed to explain snooping around in his bedroom. “What are you doing back here?” he asked clearly startled to see someone in his room. “Were about to start presents.” he said slowly as if he was trying to understand what was happening. “But what are you doing back here?”

“Do you ever feel like something isn’t exactly right?” Amy asked him quickly before she could change her mind. She had to do this. The time was running out. Every day Valerie was getting closer and closer to giving birth. A constant reminder that this was a ticking time bomb and if she didn't’ fix it she would never be able to go back home. “Like something is just wrong?” 

“What do you mean?” Jake asks clearly confused. She was about to sound like a psychopath who had been off her medication for just a tad bit too long. 

She took a deep breath trying to compose herself. She had to do this. “Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and reach out for someone that’s not there?” she asks him trying to hold back the tears. Crying was not going to make anything better. “Cause I do. Almost every single night I wake up from a nightmare reaching out for someone who isn’t there. And then I realize that the nightmare wasn’t a nightmare at all. It was just a continuation of a normal day.”

“I don’t understand.” He says his voice barely above a whisper and maybe she imagined it but she thought that she could hear a slight crack in his voice.

“Do you ever miss someone that you don’t really know?” She asked him. “Do you ever look at her and for just a split second you think that she’s someone else.”

“Are you okay?” Jake asks her and now she knows that she heard the crack.

“No.” She replied honestly shrugging her shoulders as a stray tear fell down her cheek. She reached into her pocket and took out the picture taking one last glance at it to make sure that nothing has changed before handing it to him.

“What is this?” he asks clearly confused looking down at the picture of the two of them.

“It’s us.” She said trying to not choke on her words.

“I don’t understand.” he said shaking his head. “Did you photoshop yourself onto Valerie’s face?” he asks and it hurts to her that that is the most logical explanation. 

“I can’t explain it. Without sounding like a crazy person." Amy said. "And I’m not sure that you would believe me if I tried.”

“This is...this is weird.” Jake said handing her the photo back. “Valerie said that you were bad news but I really wanted her to give you the benefit of the doubt.” Jake said and Amy felt like everything around her was falling apart. “But this is just weird. I mean you found a picture of my wedding day and photoshop yourself onto it. And then I find you snooping around upstairs in our bedroom.” Jake stopped talking and took a deep breath. “You should go back downstairs.” she nodded leaving the room.

She was about to go back downstairs when she turned around not wanting to leave him. He was still standing there his back to the doorway, but now he was gripping the bedpost hunched over as if he was trying to not throw up. Part of her wanted to go right back in there but the more rational part of her brain that wanted to salvage any chance of getting him to believe her decided that she should just leave. 

She left the shower all together despite strange looks from all of her co workers. At the moment she couldn't find it in herself to care. She raced down the driveway and towards the car. Gina could get a ride home with someone else, she couldn’t be here anymore. Couldn’t be at this house. The whole drive home, the road was blurry from the tears in her eyes. Several times at red lights she had screamed at the emptiness banging her hands on the steering wheel. It isn’t until she’s home and in bed curled up with five blankets that she realizes she never took the photo back from him.


	16. Chapter 16

**Gina**

It was sudden when she showed up. Gina hadn’t expected it in any way. If she had she would’ve probably worn something different and sat up a bit straighter in her chair. But unfortunately she was taken by total surprise when she walked off the elevator. One second Gina was scrolling through Pinterest bored out of her mind. She looked away from the monitor down to her lap for one second to respond to Milton’s text. And when she looked back up she saw her getting off the levelator.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. She stepped off the elevator and approached Charles desk. “Which one is Gina?” She heard her ask and in that moment she knew that she was in for it. Charles pointed her out and Stacey came barreling towards her. “Are you Gina Linetti?” Stacey asked her voice laced with the anger that would come from a wife who had just found out that she was being cheated on. 

Gina looked up at her just now noticing the camera crew that had followed her into the building. This was probably prime reality show drama right here. Stacey was taller than Gina was. And contrary to Gina she had beach blonde hair and stellar blue eyes. Valerie at least bared some similarities to Gina but Stacey did not at all. “Are. You. Gina. Linett.” Stacey asked again punctuation every word as Gina had not responded the first time.

He mouth was suddenly very dry as she responded. “Yes and you are?”

“Cut the bullshit.” Stacey said and now everyone in the precinct was watching the two of them. Not that Gina could blame them of course. Had the tables been reserved she would have already had popcorn and a fresh coke in her hands. “You know exactly who I am.” Stacey responded.

“Look.” Gina said trying to remain calm although everyone staring at her and the camera that was all but being shoved into her face was not helping. “Can we do this somewhere else?”

“Nope.” Stacey said. “We are going to do this right here. If you wanted privacy you should’ve thought about that before you started fucking my husband.” There were a couple of gasps from her co-workers but the majority of them were struck with complete silence not knowing how to react in the given situation. “I bet you feel pretty good about yourself don’t you? Showing up here out of the blue and destroying my entire family just for the fun of it?”

“Milton was going to divorce you before we started seeing each other.” Gina said trying to defend herself. She wasn’t completely in the wrong here. Maybe only partially in the wrong. “You guys were already having problems before I showed up.”

“Oh is that what he told you? Let me guess he also painted me out to be a ruthless bitch who didn’t give a shit about him.” Gina was silent. She wasn't wrong. “Do you think that makes it right?”

Gina thought that she was going to continue but then she paused long enough that the silence almost seemed more awkward than the conversation so she responded with “I don’t know.”

“Don’t you think that maybe you should’ve waited until we were actually divorced? I mean what if we don’t get a divorce? What if we try to work things out?”

“I can tell you right now that Milton is not going to try to work things out with you.” Gina said. “He’s told me over and over again that he’s not happy with you and that he doesn't see a point in trying to make it work.”

“You are such a bitch!” Stacey yelled at her. Gina swallowed trying to contain the sudden urge to cry. “You are destroying my family! We have a daughter together, have you ever thought about what effect this is going to have on her?” Stacey yelled. “Milton has already moved out of the house and Iggy hasn’t seen him in almost two weeks. The other day she asked me if daddy was ever going to come home. Do you know how fucking hard it is to answer that to your four year old daughter.”

“I’m sorry.” Gina said weakly. “But I’m not going to stop seeing him.”

“Yeah well sorry is not going to cut it.” Stacey replied. “I came over here expecting you to be the bigger person but you’re too much of a stuck up bitch to see what effect you are having on other people.” Stacey started to leave but then turned around and leaned down way close to Gina’s face. “Just remember that when all of this is over, he’s going to come running back to me and leave you in the dust. He doesn't care about you, he’s just having fun.” Stacey said before storming out of the bullpen leaving everyone in silence staring at Gina.

Unable to take the stares, Gina got up and practically ran out of the bullpen and into the bathroom. She locked herself in a stall and put her head between her hands and started to cry. He was going to leave her, it wasn’t wrong. Right? She didn’t know anymore. Maybe she was a stuck up bitch. She hadn’t really thought about Iggy because when she did her heart begin to hurt so badly that she began to wonder what would happen if she killed herself in this world. Would she die all together or would she wake up in her own body again?

She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there but after a little while the bathroom door swung open and two people walked inside. She pulled her feet up onto the toilet so they wouldn’t know that she was there. She really didn’t want to have to talk to someone right now. Thank God that Amy had decided to not go to work today.

“Hey.” she heard Valerie say soothingly. “It’s okay babe.” She said again and that’s when Gina realized that the other pair of feet belonged to Jake. “Why are you crying? What’s wrong?”

She could hear Jake take a shaky breath, that’s how quiet the bathroom is. “You missed it.” he said. “Stacey showed up and yelled at Gina for having an affair with Milton.”

“That made you upset?” Valerie asked calmly. It reminded Gina of the way that she used to calm him down from panic attacks when they were younger and it was just the two of them. 

“Kind of.” Jake said. “She made a comment about Iggy asking her if she was going to see… her dad again.” The crack in his voice made her heart break. “I don’t know. It just didn’t sit with me right I guess.”

“I get it.” Valerie said. “I mean that’s awful.”

“It’s not just that though. I mean it upset me on like a personal level for some reason.” Jake said and Gina could tell that he was trying to hold it together as he continued to speak. “My first thought when she said that was ‘oh her dad is about to abandon him like my dad did me.’”

“What?” Valerie asked with a slight laugh. “Jake that’s crazy. Your dad never left you.” 

“I know.” Jake said. “That’s why it doesn't make sense. But when she said that, I don’t know how to explain it, but it was as if I was transported to back to being a little seven year old watching my dad drive away and my mom telling me to forget about him because he’s not coming home.” 

“That’s just your imagination.” Valerie said. “You know that he didn’t really leave you.”

“Yeah.” Jake said. “I guess.” Then there was silence for about a minute or so before she heard Valerie tell Jake that she had to go back downstairs. After she heard the door shut again and peered under the stall to see no feet she decided that the coast was clear. She quickly headed out into the bullpen trying desperately to avoid everyone stares.

As quickly as she could, she gathered up her things and was headed out of the building. There was no way that she was going to stay there. Not with everyone looking at her as if she was some horrible person, and not when she felt like curling up into a ball and crying.

“What’s wrong?” Is the first thing that Amy asks as Gina walks into the small shared apartment. 

Gina only huffed throwing herself down next to the girl on the couch. “Everything.”

“Okay you’re going to have to give me a little more than that.” Amy said patiently reminding Gina much of the way she heard Valerie talk to Jake a mere hour ago.

“Stacey showed up today at the nine nine and yelled at me in front of everyone.”

“I’m sorry.” Amy said. 

“I mean it’s fine I guess.” Gina replied. “I don’t know. She was really mean and I guess I can see where she is coming from but Milton said that she was cheating too.”

“Is it possible that she wasn’t cheating and Milton was just speculating?” Amy asked.

“I guess.” Gina said shrugging her shoulders. “It was just so awkward because of course they all sided with her. I mean she worked there for years before me and grew up with Jake and everything.” 

“Are you going to stop seeing him?” Amy asked.

“No.” Gina replied casually. “He wasn’t happy with her and he’s happy with me and I’m happy with him so why should stop seeing him?”

“I don’t want to fight about it so we don’t have to talk about it.” Amy responded and Gina knew just as well as she did that if the two of them continued this conversation it would end the exact same way that it did last time.

“That’s fine.” Gina replied. The two girls sat in silence for a moment or two before Gina spoke again. “I think that what Stacey said really affected Jake.”

“What do you mean?” Amy asked turning to face her and muting the television.

“Stacey made a comment about Milton abandon Iggy and how Iggy wasn’t sure when her dad was going to come home and it really upset Jake. He was in the bathroom almost having a full blown panic attack before Valerie talked him down.”

“Do you know what this means?” Amy asked the excitement evident in her voice and the way she started almost bouncing up and down on the couch. “There are gaps between this life and his old life. He’s starting to feel emotions that the real him would feel.”

“Yeah but how does that help?” Gina asked. “You need him to admit that he thinks there is another timeline in which you are his wife. I hate to break it to you but I think that we are going to be stuck here forever and we need to just settle in.”

“What?” Amy exclaimed “Are you crazy? This means that he’s starting to question reality. If I can get him to think that nothing is quite the way it seems than I have a better of chance of getting him to admit that this is why everything seems so weird. Also of course we’re going to get back to the real world. We can’t just sit here and let the time pass us by.”

“Yeah but what is the point?” Gina asked. “Amy let’s be realistic you and I both know that is a dead end and that Jake is never going to admit that. And I’m never going to be able to do something kind without thinking of myself because everything I do, i do thinking of myself. We are stuck here.”

“How can you say that though?” Amy asked. “How can you not want to fight to get back. Back to the real MIlton, the real nine nine, your parents, Iggy. How could you not want to fight to get back to your daughter? Mine wasn’t even born yet and the idea of not being there makes me want to get sick.”

“I don’t know.” Gina whispered feeling the tears begin to form but she didn’t try to stop them because when she looked back up Amy was crying as well. “I don’t know.” She repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is officially finished!! So expect daily updates now :)


	17. Chapter 17

**Amy**

She sat in the hospital lobby, her knees shaking so much that if a stranger saw her they would think that she had a loved one in life or death surgery. But that wasn't the case. In fact it was the exact opposite. Instead she was sitting here in the lobby with all her co-workers waiting for her other co-workers baby to be born. It was complete hell.

Charles had called them around three am to tell that them that Valerie had gone into labour and that her and Jake were headed to the hospital. When Amy politely informed him that she would come by later (it was a lie) Charles proceeded to tell her that if the entire nine nine wasn’t there, he was personally going to stab them all in their sleep. Fake Charles has really upped is creepy obsession over the two of them.

So, feeling obligated, Amy drug herself out of bed and got Gina up and the two girls were then headed to the hospital. The car ride was incredibly silent. All Amy could think about was the fact that it was supposed to be her. She should be the one in the passenger seat as Jake speeds down the busy roads trying to get them to the hospital. Not sitting in the passenger seat as Gina slowly drives trying to prolong the amount of time that it takes to get there so that maybe Amy’s tears have enough time to dry.

The thing that they don’t tell you about having a baby is how long everyone is else is going to sit in the waiting room. Mothers of the baby usually are delivering not waiting to hear the news as to whether or not it’s a boy or girl. Jake and Valerie had decided to wait to find out the gender. Something that Amy never would’ve done. She wanted to know every single little thing about that baby so that on the day he or she was born there would be no surprises.

All around her, the nine nine was patiently waiting to meet the newest addition. The nurse had told them that Valerie showed up to the hospital at two am and it’s now almost six in the morning. The sun was slowly peeking over the horizon and people were getting ready for a new day. But Amy felt like the entire world was crashing down on her right now. She knew from reading before this whole mess of a curse that labor could take up to eight hours. That’s eight hours of her sitting her unable to leave without getting a death stare from Charles.

She didn’t want to think about it. She really didn’t want to think about it. But that was easier said than done. Her mind was being consumed with images of the two of them back there. Images of Jake holding her hand and running a hand through her hair telling her that she’s ‘doing great’ or ‘I wish I could do it for you’. That kind of sweet bullshit that he’s always been the best at. She likes to imagine that she would be calm and collected during the whole thing, but deep down she knows that she would probably be screaming at him for doing this to her only to have to later apologize. 

What really bothers her though is thinking about the little baby- or babies- that they will have in twenty four hours. How completely different their life is about to be. She then starts to wonder what’s happening back in the real world. Is she in a hospital somewhere living through what Valerie’s living through and missing it completely or has all time come to a complete stand still? Does the real world even still exist? Is there anything to go back to?

Before she had time to really delve into that she was interrupted by commotion throughout the lobby. Gina reached over and grabbed her hand and that’s when Amy realized that it was Stacey walking into the lobby holding Iggy close to her.

Amy gave Gina’s hand a reassuring squeeze as Stacey sat down as far away as she could from the two girls. Still even from where she was sitting she could hear Iggy excitingly babbling about what she did yesterday in preschool. 

Gina gripped her hand so tightly that she wasn’t sure that the girl wouldn't break it. It stayed like that for a little while. The two girls holding hands while trying to hold back tears for different, yet completely similar reasons. 

Nothing changed until Jake came running out into the lobby a wide smile on his face. She wanted to throw up. He came over to the big group that had taken up half the chairs in the corner. Charles was on his feet almost immediately “Boy or girl?” Charles asked practically jumping up and down in delight.

“It’s two boys.” Jake said and everyone in the room gasped except for Amy. “Both boys and mom and are doing great. Their names are Elijah, Eli for short, and Isaac. They both weighed around five and half pounds both measuring eighteen inches.” Eli. That was the baby name she had always liked. She had never really thought of Isaac before, it must have been something that Jake liked or something that they both agreed on at some point. “We will be taking visitors back one at a time now.” he said and nobody bothered moving because they all knew that if Charlie didn’t get to go first it would be a bloodbath.

Amy sat there staring straight ahead as people came and went between the room. After Charles, Captain Holt went back and after that Amy stopped paying attention. When Gina came back the only thing she could say to Amy was that she was sorry and she would be out in the car. It was just as hard for her to be here with Iggy as it was going to be for Amy to go back into that room. At some point she realized that she was the only one from the nine nine, besides Charles who was still here. And when Jake asked if she wanted to come back, she realized that there really was no way of getting out of this. Honestly she was shocked that he even asked her given their last conversation and how it ended.

“Congratulations.” She said as the two of them walked down the hall towards where the room is. Everything about this is wrong. 

“Thanks.” Jake said. “It’s so exciting you know?”

“Of course.” Amy said as he opened the hospital door. As painful as she expected this to be, nothing could prepare her for walking into that room and seeing her babies, yet not her babies, with another mom. It was the most surreal thing that she’s ever experienced and she highly doubted that there would ever be anything to top it. 

Both her parents and Jake’s parents were still in the room which did not help matters at all. She wanted to run. Just sprint out of the room and never come back. But that wouldn’t solve her problems and she wanted _needed_ to get back to the real world so that she could hold her sons as her sons.

Valerie gently hands her one of the babies, she’s told that it’s Eli. When she looks down at him she feels the entire world collapse. He’s got Jake’s eyes. Clear as day. And he’s already got more hair than any of her nieces or nephews did. As his eyes flutter opened and closed she finds that there are tears falling down her cheeks but she can’t find the energy to care. Chalk it up to female hormones or something. She really doesn't give a shit. Time seemed to freeze and yet somehow move at lightning speed. By the time that Jake asked for him back, she felt like she had been holding him for ten years and one second at the same time. 

Wathcing Jake hold him was even more sicking. He looked so happy that it made her heart crack in half. She excused herself from the room and all but ran down the hospital corridors until she was at her car a complete sobbing mess. 

She was a good cop. It’s what she did best. Never in a million years has she considered being dirty. Forging evidence to frame somebody because she needs an arrest. Taking drugs from the evidence room. Losing evidence that would incriminate someone. Hell, she was such a good cop that she once gave her own aunt a jaywalking ticket. The only time that it even crossed her mind was when she would've done anything to get Jake out of jail and back into her arms. So no, she’s never really thought about it, never had regrets about doing the right thing. But right now? Right now she was wishing that she had put a bullet right into Edgar’s skull when she had the chance.


	18. Chapter 18

**Jake**

It had been two days since they had returned home from the hospital. Four days since they welcomed their two wonderful additions to their family. And yes it has been exhausting but he wouldn’t change it for the world.

It was such a surreal thing to him. To think about how his life has forever been changed by the two little infants softly sleep in the cribs right in front of him. They were so tiny that he was actually terrified that he would crush them the first time that he held them.

In the back of his mind throughout this entire pregnancy he had a fear of not being a good dad. Why? He didn’t know. Maybe because he felt like he never really grew up. When he told his parents he was fully expecting them to yell at him for not being more careful. It wasn’t until they were sitting down across from him with Valerie's hand in his that he realized that he wasn’t a teenager anymore. That he was happily married and ready to embark on this next part of his life. Being a father. 

Isaac started to cry and Jake gently lifted him out of the crib. “Shh.” he said cradling him in his arms and slowly rocking him back and forth. “It’s okay. I’m right here.” Jake said trying to get him to stop crying before Valerie woke up. She deserved to get some rest after everything that she’s done. 

After a minute or so of Jake gently rocking him, Isaac calmed down and stopped crying all together. “There you go.” Jake said as Isaac threw his fist not knowing what to do with it yet. He settled with grabbing onto Jake’s shirt as tightly as his little fist would allow him to. 

As he gazed up at Jake, he felt his entire heart melt and he knew in that moment that these two little infants had so much power over him. Because at the end of the day he would do anything to make them happy and to make them smile. It was alarming how quickly he could feel complete unconditional love for someone. 

“Hey.” he heard Valerie say before he saw her. When he glanced up she was standing in the doorway watching them as if they were the only thing that mattered. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Didn’t think that it was necessary.” Jake said as she walked into the nursery. “Just wanted you to be able to sleep some more.”

“Aren’t they perfect?” she asked him looking down at the sleeping baby in his arms and the other that was still laying in his crib completely unaware of everything around him. “We made them. Isn’t that so strange?”

“It is.” Jake agreed as he finally sat Issac back down in his crib next to his brother.

“You know I read online that twins sometimes communicate in the womb and when they are born they can create their own language.”

“Well that’s great.” Jake whispered trying to not wake up either kid. “They are going to be rallying against us in to time at all.”

“Shut up.” Valerie said hitting him slightly in the shoulder. “They are perfect and never going to do anything wrong.”

“I know.” Jake said. “I was just teasing. “They really are little angels.”

“Our little angels.” Valerie repeated. “Come on. We should go before they wake up. Because then they are not going to be little angels.” Jake nodded following her out of the room and into the kitchen. It was already nine in the morning so he figured that he should probably start breakfast for the two of them.

“I think Holt is going to be here pretty soon. He said that he was going to stop by before work.” Jake said getting things out of the cabinet to make pancakes. “And we will be lucky if Charles doesn't show up with him.”

“That’s okay.” Valerie said shrugging her shoulders. “We were lucky that he didn’t come home with us straight from the hospital.”

“I had to convince him not to” Jake replied. As Valerie sat down at the table and put a couple of pancakes onto her plate. The two of them talked over the pancakes and orange juice until there was a knock at the front door and Jake got up to answer it.

“Hello.” Holt said as he made his way into their house. “I would like to state for the record that I told Detective Boyle that he was not invited.” Holt continued as Charles followed him into the house. 

“It’s alright.” Jake said. “We kind of figured that he was coming over anyways.” Jake said before following Valerie into the nursery and picking up Eli. 

“So this is Isaac.” Valerie said handing Isaac to Holt. “And that’s Eli.” She said as Jake handed over his son. He trusted Charles, he did. But there was a part of his brain that was still screaming. ‘No! Don’t give him the baby!’ the part of his brain that didn’t exist a mere four days ago but now was a strong as the rest of him. Still he silenced that part and let Charles hold Eli knowing full well that Charles knew how to hold a baby.

“He’s precious.” Charles said peering down at the baby nestled safely in the blanket.

“Yes.” Holt agreed. “What a miracle. He’s got your eyes.” he said to Jake and Jake only smiled. Valerie had said the same thing but he couldn’t see it. He really couldn't see either one of them in the babies eyes. Just then Eli burst out crying and Valerie quickly took him from Holt’s arms and back into the nursery to feed him.

“How are things that the nine nine?” Jake asks mainly to just fill the silence.

“Pretty much the same.” Holt replies.

“It’s much quieter without you and Valerie there.” Charles added. “Kinda boring.”

“Well I’m not looking forward to coming back.” Jake said before Charles and Holt decided that they should get going as to not be late to work. Charles carefully handed Issac back before promising that he was going to be back later tonight with some homemade food that they were definitely not going to eat. 

He sat down on the couch holding Isaac close to him rocking him ever so slightly. As he looked down into the small brown eyes it hit him all at once like a pile of bricks. It wasn’t his eyes that were staring back up at him. Nor were they Valeries. It wasn’t his parents eyes and it wasn’t her parents eyes either. He could go on and on because what he saw made no sense whatsoever. But looking back up at him right now where Amy Santiago’s eyes on his child. Luckily for him, and Isaac too, the room didn’t start spinning with this realization. Instead his heart just began to start sinking. 

It was a kind of realization that he was never going to be able to unsee. And he knew now that he wasn’t going to be able to sleep at all, not due to the crying infant one room over but because he was trying to figure out how it was possible for his baby to have his co-workers eyes. 

The more he sat here and the more he thought about it he finally came to the conclusion that it was probably time to sign up to see a therapist or maybe a neurologist because something wasn't right and this has gone on for way too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I know that this chapter was tiny and pretty insignificant, I just needed something to fill the gap between the last chapter and the next one!


	19. Chapter 19

**Gina**

“Can I ask you something?” Gina said walking into the breakroom and throwing her salad down on the table. She then took a seat and Charles glanced up at her clearly confused as she had barely said a word to him since this whole curse thing started.

“Sure.” Charles said as she peeled the lid off the cheap grocery store salad that she had put together this morning. Amy made her do it. Told her something about how she needs to eat healthier and Gina had quietly in her head made some remark about how awful it must be to be Jake. “What’s up?”

“Do you think that what I’m doing is wrong?” Gina asks Charles was silent and she wasn’t sure if it was because he was waiting for her to continue or trying to decide if it was a trap or not. “Being with Milton.” she clarified in case he really didn’t know what she was referring to.

“Why are you asking me this?” Charles asked with a slight laugh and it was clear that he was uncomfortable with the conversation.

“Because Milton is your cousin and you were friends with Stacey.” Gina said. “Look I don’t mean to put you in awkward position I just want to know what you think.”

“I don’t think that Stacey and Milton are happy together anymore.” Charles said. “I think that they were when they started dating and when they got married and for a little bit with Iggy. But then Stacey got a deal for her reality tv show and I think everything kind of went downhill.”

“Yeah.” Gina agreed. “That’s what Milton said.” 

“I don’t know if what you’re doing is wrong or right.” Charles said. “I think that there are a lot of variables that play into that. Really only you can know if it’s wrong or right.”

Gina huffed. “That really doesn't do me any good.” she said. “I’m going to be honest with you. I haven’t really been sleeping too well ever since Stacey showed up here and screamed at me. It’s like I thought that it was black and white but ever since seeing Iggy at the hospital all I see is shades of grey.”

“Look I don’t have a simple answer for you. The only thing that I can tell you is that if it was me, I wouldn't want to stand in the way of Stacey. The girl is going to get what she wants. But also I wouldn’t want to be caught up in tearing Iggy’s father away from her. If you really love him you should give him some space to sort things out with his family and at the end if he still wants to be with you then great.” Charles said.

“Thanks.” Gina said not really knowing what else to say. After finishing her salad she headed back out into the bullpen to sit at her desk and count the hours until she was able to go home. 

Without Jake there, it was extremely boring. It was strange to think that he was at home with two infants. Very strange in fact. Probably because in her mind the two of them were still sitting in his nanas apartment throwing popcorn at the tv when the boy ends up kissing the girl.

Amy had said that morning that she couldn't decide if it was easier or harder not having him there. She said that on one hand it was easier to not be constantly reminded that he wasn’t hers in this life. But on the other she didn’t like not being able to see him. At least earlier she was able to talk to him everyday if she pleased.

Slowly the hours passed by until her and Amy were heading home. They talked about little things the whole way home. Things that don’t really matter things that aren’t stressful to talk about. They find that it’s almost unbearable to talk about the curse. The chance of getting out of this and back into the real world seems to dwindle every single day. And when they begin to talk about it, they see how much time has passed and how little they’ve accomplished. 

They eat dinner in overall silence. The only sound being the soft volumes of Jim arguing with Dwight in the background or the drama from Seattle Grace Hospital. She finds that each day is progressively worse than the last and she seems to be just moving through it. It’s like life has suddenly become a ritual that’s she practiced thousands of times. She knows the right things to say and the right things to do to get people to leave her alone.

After dinner she finds herself in her room laying in bed and staring at the speckled ceiling. Her mind typically moves the fastest when it’s well past ten o’clock and all the lights in the apartment have been turned off. 

That’s when she finally allows herself to think of Iggy. Thinking of her in the broad of daylight is too painful. When ever she thinks about _her_ little girl the tears seem to fall as naturally as her lungs take in oxygen. The words “When is daddy coming home” ring as loud in her ears as the sound of the fireworks that her dad took her to see when she was six before he left her completely.

She knew what that was like to grow up without a dad. Well technically with a dad she just didn’t know him. Much like Jake’s father, hers hand abandon her and her mom for a hooker that he picked up on the side of the road. And although she compressed her feelings much better than Jake did, she grew up always wondering why she wasn’t good enough. Why hadn’t he stayed for her. If she told everyone at the nine nine that she had felt that way, they would’ve called her bluff but it was the truth. She had just gotten really good at masking those feelings over the year. 

Jake on the other hand was a different story. She still remembered nights spent at his nans house when both their parents were working night shifts. Nights when he would all but cry himself to sleep trying to understand why he would never see his dad again. She remembered the first girl that he loved junior year of highschool. The girl that didn’t love him back and left him alone on the street. She still remembers his words a whole twenty some years later. “It’s okay. I’m not worth loving anyways.” 

What she was doing was wrong.

She quickly got out of bed throwing on the first thing that she could find on the ground. It probably didn’t match but she didn’t care. She slipped on a pair of slippers- again didn’t care- and grabbed her car keys quickly making her way out of the apartment before Amy could wake up and ask her where she was going. This couldn’t wait. She needed to take care of this right now.

She found herself at Milton’s hotel room door in the blink of an eye. She had expected to feel some sort of ‘is this really I want to do’ but none of it came. She had been here like a thousand times before but never quite like this. She knocked on the door several times before he finally opened it up.

It was clear that she had woken him up based on the way that his hair was all over the place and he was only wearing sweatpants. He tiredly rubbed sleep out of his eye as he waited for her to tell her why she was standing outside his door at two thirty in the morning. “I think that we need to break up.” She said calmly not feeling any sort of regret oddly enough.

“What?” Milton asked. He was confused. She would be too if the tables were turned.

“We have to break up. You need to work it out with Stacey. Or don’t work it out with Stacey if you’re not happy with her. All I know is that you need to work things out with your family. You need to be there for your daughter.”

“Gina. What are you saying.”

“I’m saying that this is over.” Gina said. She had already said it two times before. How much more clear could she make this. “Be there for Iggy. And figure out what you’re doing with Stacey. If you end up getting a divorce, that’s fine. Find me then. But I can’t keep doing this when you’re still technically married to her and practically abandoning your daughter to be with me.”

“Gina.” Milton said. “I don’t love her anymore.” 

Gina reached up and wiped a couple of tears off her cheeks. “But you still love Iggy.” She said. “And you need to figure out how to stay a part of her life no matter what happens with Stacey. I’m not saying that this is done for good. I’m saying that we need to take a break. I love you and I love her and I know you don’t understand but that’s okay. This is just something that I have to do.” Gina said walking away before giving him a chance to respond.

She cried the entire way back down to her car. Not because she regretted what she did. It had to be done. In a strange weird way she felt like a brick had been lifted off her. Still, she felt heartbroken. She loved him. She really did. But she also really loved Iggy and she had to do the right thing for Iggy.

She got in her car and rested her head on the steering wheel not feeling ready to drive yet. She did the right thing she told herself over and over again. After a moment or two the tears had finally stopped forming and she wiped her face feeling much better than she had twenty four hours ago. She put the car in reverse but before she could give it gas to go anywhere the entire world went black.


	20. Chapter 20

**Amy**

She woke up early in the morning, the tears from last night still not completely dry. Every day was getting harder and harder and all she really wanted was to fall asleep in Jake’s arms. Right now, she wished that there was some way that she could go back to the her pre-Jake. The one that had no idea what she was missing out on. Because this is absolute hell. 

She heard a song once on the radio when she was dating Teddy. The lyrics were “How could anybody have you, how could anybody have you lose you and not lose their minds too.” At them time she didn’t quite understand the lyrics. Like she knew what it was getting at but couldn’t relate to the sentiment of it. At the time she didn’t feel like she would be at any lose if she lost Teddy. But then she started dating Jake and it was like all it once it clicked in her brain. She even started feeling bad for Sophia, that’s how addictive Jake became to her. 

Part of her dreaded going to work for some reason. She sat on the edge of her bed for at least twenty minutes just staring at nothing in particular. She could not find even an ounce of motivation to get up and get dressed. Which was insanity for her. Usually she sprang out of bed when the alarm clock went off and got ready as quickly as she could ready to start a fresh day. 

Now though, everything was feeling so grey all the time. The sun was shining but all she saw were grey clouds. It seemed to always be raining. And she hates the rain. Absolutely hates it. It’s cold and it’s wet and it makes for a miserable commute to work. Rain in her mind was a poor man’s snow. And yes, it wasn’t really _always_ raining but it sure did feel that way recently.

She couldn’t stop imagining Jake at home with Valerie and those two babies. And then she couldn't stop imagining what was going on in the real world. If time was frozen and by some miracle she was able to get out of this curse was she going to ‘wake up’ right where she was when this whole thing started? Or was she going to wake up nine months later having given birth to twins that she can’t even remember?

It was eight thirty. She had to leave in ten minutes if she planned on being on time to work today. She was _never_ late but she may just be late today. Finally she found the motivation to get up in a fresh pot of coffee. As she made her way out into the living room she noticed that Gina had left her bedroom door open which was unusual. Upon closer inspection she realized that Gina wasn’t even in the room. She must have gone over to Miltons at some point last night.

After brewing a pot of coffee and pouring herself a cup she headed into the bathroom because she should at least try to make an effort to show up fashionably late. When she turned on the bathroom light she nearly dropped the scolding coffee at the message that was painted onto the bathroom mirror. 

“Tick tock.” The message wrote. “Gina has made it out of the curse. Now that Gina is out the time starts ticking much faster. You have one week before you are trapped here for the rest of your life.”

As she read the message she found herself gripping on the coffee mug with such force that she was shocked it didn’t break it. One week? How was she going to do this in one week? She was promised three more months. She swallowed hard trying to hold back tears. She was going to have step things up if she wanted to get back to her real life.


	21. Chapter 21

**Jake**

It was late at night when there was a knock at the door. Eleven thirty to be exact. The only reason that he was awake was because he couldn’t drag himself away from the two boys. Valerie was fast asleep in the other room and he took a moment to admire her from the bedroom door way before attending to the door. She looked so peaceful, so calm, when she slept.

He looked through the peephole as he always did when answering the door. It was something that Valerie told him early on in their relationship that he needed to do. “You never know when it’s going to be a criminal that you put away who wants revenge.” Valerie had said. At the time he had laughed but then immediately started doing it solely because it made her smile.

When he saw her face through the peephole, despite knowing better, he opened the door. “Amy.” Jake said a curious look on his face. “Is everything alright?”

“You used to call me Ames.” She said all of a sudden taking him back. “Please don’t say anything until I’m done it’ll be easier if you don’t. I’m going to sound insane. I know that but I need you to hear it.”

“Okay.” Jake said slowly. Was this some kind of fever dream?

“We’re married.” She started and this definitely has to be a fever dream. Either that or he is tripping hard right now which seems unlikely. “In a different timeline almost. No that sounds stupid. In a different universe?” She said and now he was wondering if maybe she was the one on drugs. “I arrested this guy, named Edgar Porter. He told me that he was going to curse me. Put me in a different world where nobody remembered me.”

“Are you really trying to tell me right now that you are from a different dimension where we were married?”

“Yes.” Amy said without skipping a beat. “Please just hear me out.” She pleaded with him and he nodded mainly because he had nothing else to do, why not hear a good story. “We were partners at the nine nine for ten years before I got promoted to sergeant. I _hated_ you when I first met you. I thought that you were an absolute slob and I didn’t think that there was anyway that our partnership was going to work. But I was wrong in so many ways.”

“The more we started to get to know each other the more we became friends. I don’t know at what point you started liking me. To be honest I think that you always kind of did which is why you spent so much time teasing me. If I had to pinpoint it though I would say that you started like me around the time that you won the bet. Something changed that night and although we didn’t talk about it, we both knew it.”

“How do you know about that bet?” Jake asked his voice weaker than he intended it to be.

“Because I was there. Because I was the girl. Not Valerie Jake. It was me.” she said before continuing. “After a little bit we both started dating other people. You started dating a lawyer named Sophia -” 

“Perez.” Jake finished for her. He was terrified right now. How did she know so much about his marriage. The ringing in his ears was growing so loud that it was almost unbearable at this point.

“Yeah and I started dating Teddy Wells, who apparently Valerie also dated. Why do you think that you reacted the way you did to Teddy asking me out?”

Jake was silent. He knew the reason why but he was never going to admit it. The jealousy that he had felt when Teddy walked towards her small little desk was far too much for a married man. He shouldn’t have cared if she went out on a date with Teddy or not but the thought her going out with someone besides him was almost sickening. It was something that kept him up at night.

“Exactly.” Amy said to his silence. “And when Stacey confronted Gina about Iggy not knowing when her dad was going to come home. Gina said that comment really upset you. It upset you because in the real world your dad abandon you.” She said. “I know that you know that there are gaps.”

Jake was quiet. She was right. That comment had upset him to the point where he was almost having a panic attack. And deep down he did feel like he was upset because in some way somehow he had been abandoned by his father. Which was crazy considering his dad was present throughout his whole life. 

“Look I could go on and on. Florida was a little different for us. It was you and Holt that were threatened and you were forced to go down to Coral palms without me. It was a long six months. And then there was prison. They said that you weren’t sentenced here but in the real world you were and that was even worse. I was scared out of my mind all the time. You proposed to me in the evidence locker and we got married on the streets in front of gawking New Yorkers.” She said. “There are so many more moments I could list but none of them matter because you’ve already heard them all.”

There was a beat of silence and Jake wondered if she too could hear the ringing and feel the Earth rotating on its axis. “What do you want me to say?” he whispered partially because he was afraid to wake up the three sleeping people on the inside but mainly because he didn’t trust his voice enough to not break.

“I don’t know.” Amy replied. 

“I mean do you want me to admit that I believe you?” Jake asked and he saw a tiny bit of hope in her eyes but it vanished as he continued talking. “Are you wanting me to say that I believe you’re my wife versus the woman sleeping in there who just gave birth to my children. I mean that’s insane right?”

“It’s the truth.” Amy said.

“First you photoshop yourself on a picture of Valerie from our wedding day and now you’re standing her reciting memories that I have with someone else claiming that you are the girl in the memories. This is all getting to be too much for me. And if I’m being honest I’m starting to wonder if it was you that was my flight attendant and not your twin sister. Valerie said that you were practically undressing me with your eyes. Did you fly all the way down here expecting me to leave my wife for you?”

“I don’t know.” Amy says again.

“Look this is all too much for me.” Jake says. “You should leave.” he adds before closing the door in her face. The second that the door latches shut though he finds himself hunched over and throwing up right on the freshly cleaned wood floors. It feels like vertigo on crack. 

“Jake!” Valerie says rushing over to him far faster than she should’ve been able to had she just gotten out of bed to the sound of the door slamming shut and him puking. “Are you okay?” she asks running into the kitchen and grabbing a bowl. She puts it down in front of him and starts to rub his back but as soon as she touches him he flinches away as if her touch was fire. For a split second it felt wrong for someone besides Amy to be touching him which is insane consider that Valerie is his _wife._ “Babe.” Valerie says as he scoots away from her to rest his back against the door. “What’s wrong? Don’t let what that psychopathic girl say get into your head.”

At the mention that _that girl_ Jake felt another round of vomit come up. The taste was vile and the back of his throat was beginning to burn. He stared at Valerie trying to figure out why he was wishing that it was Amy sitting there right now. There was no way that what she said was true. That’s just insanity.

“Jake.” Valerie said again moving herself to try and be closer to him but he only moved himself away from her. Somewhere in his mind he knew that what he was doing was wrong. Pushing away the only one who was ever really there for him. But right now he couldn’t care. He wanted _her_ to be here yet he yelled at her and told her to go away. What is wrong with him? He loves Valerie. He knows that he loves Valerie. So why is he struggling so much right now?

“Jake what the hell is going on!” Valerie demanded and in the distant he could hear the sound of one of the twins crying from the commotion in the other room. “Please don’t tell me that you are believing what that girl was saying.” Jake was silent staring straight at her. It’s not that he was believing it because it was complete insanity. But on the other hand it would explain why he’s been so drawn to her. “Oh my gosh.” Valerie said to his silence as she stood up from the floor. “You have to be fucking kidding me.” She all but yelled at him. “After _everything_ that we’ve been through, your questioning if it was all real because of what one crazy girl said to you? I gave birth to you children _six days ago!”_ she yelled at him and he felt like curling up into a ball and sobbing right there on the floor.

He watched her scoff and roll her eyes before giving up and heading back towards their bedroom. “Val wait!” Jake called as best as he could with a sore throat and a still throbbing head. She stopped and turned around looking at him clearly waiting for a damn good explanation which she definitely deserved. “I don’t believe her.” He said. “I don’t know what’s going on. But I know that my head hurts all the time and there’s this constant ringing in my ears. And sometimes I start having these hallucinations.”

“Jake.” Valerie said with semi-sympathetic eyes as she came back to him and sat down on the floor next to time. This time she didn’t move when she put her arms around his shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”

“It wasn't really that big of a deal.” He replied.

“Really?” Valerie asked. “You know those kind of sound like symptoms of a brain tumor.” She said seriously looking up at him with concerned eyes. “I doubt that’s what it is but maybe you should see a neurologist. Better safe than sorry right?” 

“Yeah.” Jake said nodding. “Maybe I will call and get an appointment scheduled in the morning.” he said. “I’m sorry.” he added. “I don’t want you to think that I would ever doubt us or throw it all away for a girl that I’ve only known for like nine months or whatever.”

“I know.” Valerie said rubbing his shoulder. “I know.” she said again. “And I don’t want you to think that I ever would think that. It’s just that that girl has been so aggressive. And the entire time you’ve known her, she’s been so thin and pretty and I’ve been all pregnant and not wanting to do anything that requires extra effort. And I don’t know. I think that I just let my emotions get the best of me.”

“Hey.” Jake said softly. “You don’t have to do that. That’s not on you. And for the record I think that you were the hottest pregnant woman to ever exist.”

Valerie only rolled her eyes. “Are you ready to go to bed?” Jake nodded slowly standing up from the floor taking care of the bowl full of vomit before following Valerie back into their bedroom and crawling into bed. 

Valerie fell asleep almost instantly all the exhaustion of the past week finally catching up to her. He on the other hand was not so lucky. He stared at the ceiling her words on repeat in his mind like the lyrics of call me maybe during the summer of 2012. “I’m your wife.” He closed his eyes and prayed that he would be able to fall asleep but even in the darkness of his own eyelids he saw her face clear as day.

The sleep that he actually did get was filled with dreams of her. Dreams of her being the one that sat there with him in those cheap plastic chairs throwing peanuts and trying to catch them in her mouth. Dreams of her being the one that walked down the aisle and kissed him after Holt announced them married. He dreamed of her being the one that's holding Eli telling him how much he looked like him.

It was wrong in so many ways but only in those dreams did he feel like everything was right.

He got out of bed early the next morning making haste work of getting ready. He stopped in the nursery for just a moment to say goodbye to twins before he left the apartament. He had left a note on the counter saying that he was going to the store and would be back soon. Not really lying because he was going to store. He just had to make a pitstop somewhere first. 

It had only been a week yet everything in the nine nine seemed completely different. Maybe it was because he was a different person than he was the last time that he was in here. Now he was a father. He still felt giddy when he thought about it. Which reminded him exactly why he was here.

“Amy.” He said walking up to her desk. She looked startled to see him here which made sense given that he wasn’t supposed to be back for a couple of weeks. “We need to talk. Now.” he said grabbing her by the elbow and dragging her towards the evidence room hoping no one noticed the two of them.

Once they were in the evidence room he checked to make sure that there is no one in there who might hear him. “What the hell was that last night?”

“I’m not going to apologize for telling you the truth. So if that’s what you’re expecting right now then I should just save myself time and go back to my desk.”

“I don’t want an apology.” Jake said angrily. “I want some answers.”

“Like what?” Amy asked crossing her arms over her chest. 

“For starters what did you expect to happen last night?”

“I don’t know.”

“Not good enough try again.”

“I wanted you to tell me that you believe me.” Amy stated

Jake ran a hand through his hair. “You understand why that’s insane right?” He asked her. “How did you know all that shit about my marriage and why the hell do my ears keep ringing and why can I all of sudden feel the earth rotate when you’re in the room. Why do I dream about you and then wake up thinking that the dream was better than my reality? I had twins seven days ago. That is so fundamentally fucked up.” 

“You dream about me?” She asks the tears starting to fall. He wondered if she felt like all she ever did was cry. 

“Yeah sometimes.” Jake admitted. “Because for whatever reason I can’t quite get you out of my mind.” She opened her mouth to say something. “Don’t say that it’s because you’re my wife. I don’t know what kind of game this is. But I’m not falling for it like Milton did with your friend. I love Valerie and I really love Eli and Isaac and nothing is going to change that.”

“Jake.” Amy said between sobs.

“No.” Jake said before storming out of the evidence room. Why did he think that this would make him feel better? He thought as he headed out to his car. He still feels just as shitty as he did last night if not even worst. This isn’t how it was supposed to happen. He was supposed to be a good husband and father. He promised that to Valerie, Isaac and Eli. Yet here he was, his mind completely consumed with another girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only three more chapter left!! Things are going to start getting really tense though right up until the end :)


	22. Chapter 22

**Amy**

She has two days to get out of this. Forty eight hours and she was stuck here forever. It was terrifying. Absolutely frightening. The problem is, she doesn't know how to get out here. Doesn't know how to convince Jake that this is real. He seems to be right on the verge, he just can’t admit to himself and if he can’t admit to himself than he certainly can’t admit it to her. And to make matters even worse, this morning Edgar had written on her mirror that today will be the worst day of her life.

“Hey what’s up losers?” Amy heard someone yell into the bullpen. She recognizes the voice without even having to look it up. But how? She got out of the curse. 

“Gina!” She heard Charles shout out. “It’s been a long time.” 

“I know.” Gina siad. “Been super busy. Iggy just wanted to say hi to everyone.” she said and it was then that Amy noticed that she was holding her daughter in her arms. Gina put her down and let her run around the bullpen saying hi to various detectives. That’s when Gina and her locked eyes across from the room. 

Curiously Gina approached Amy. “You must be new here. Did you get my old job?” Gina asked.

“Um.” Amy said confused. “Yeah.” she said. “You don’t remember me do you?”

“I know you?” Gina asked with a laugh. “Sorry I don’t. I meet a lot of cool interesting people.”

“Yeah.” Amy said with a sad smile. She was officially alone. If she were to ask around right now she would bet a lot of money that people have no idea who Stacey is anymore. In this fake timeline, Gina’s life has gone back to normal.

Amy only wished that Valerie would disappear that fast. And speaking of the devil, here she comes storming into the bullpen heading straight for Amy’s desk. As if she knows that she’s standing in the blast zone, Gina takes a step back allowing Valerie to make her way right to in front of Amy. 

“What did I tell you would happen if you kept fucking around with my husband!” Valerie shouted. She gave birth like two weeks ago, but she yelled like someone who has been on coke for years. “You really did call my bluff didn’t you.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Amy said standing up to try and be on an even level. She might have to literally fight herself but at least she knows all of her greatest weaknesses. 

“You thought that you were just going to steal my husband right from under me you conniving little bitch.” Valerie yelled.

“He’s not your husband.” Amy shouted back just deciding to screw everything. This was going to be over in forty eight hours whether that be her back in her old life or her stuck here for the rest of her life. And if the worst comes true she’s moving far away from here. Maybe London. Or maybe she’ll put a bullet in her brain who knows. The possibilities are endless. 

“He’s not my husband?” Valerie replied in a mocking tone. Everyone in the nine nine had gone completely silent listening to the cat fight that was starting to unfold. “Tell that to the state of New York. If you think that you are I am going to let you take him away from my sons and I then you don’t even know me.”

“And if you think that I’m going to get stuck here in this world without him then you don’t really know me.”

“I mean do you hear yourself!” Valerie shouted. “You sound like a psych ward patient that got released because her insurance inspired.” 

“I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks that I sound like.” Amy yelled back. She was probably going to get fired making it the first that she’s _ever_ been fired. “I could give a shit about your opinion or your feelings because you are not real. If Jake admits that he believes me, then you will disappear just like Stacey did.”

“Who is Stacey?” Valerie asked laughing. “I mean honestly Amy. I think that you need some serious help.”

“You’re going to need some serious-” Amy started as the elevator doors ding and she watched in horror as Noah stepped off the elevator. _What the hell is happening?_

“Amy!” he shouted walking over to her. People who were watching the fight between Valerie and her graciously stepped aside welcoming in the additional drama.

“No.” Amy said before he could even have a chance to talk. “Go back to Missouri!” She said to him glaring as he walked closer to her.

“Not without you. This has gone on for way too long.”

“I’m sorry.” Valerie said. “Who are you?” She asked and Amy is seriously starting to think that this has to be a dream. When Edgar said that today was going to be a bad day she figured he meant because the end was nearing and she wasn’t any closer to getting out. Not that he was going to bring every skeleton out of her closet and have them all air their grievances right here in front of her coworkers.

“I’m Noah. Amy’s husband.”

“Oh.” Valerie said with a cruel laugh. “So you were trying to steal my husband while you just completely abandon yours?” 

“He’s not my husband.” Amy said through gritted teeth. Her brain was starting to kick itself into survival mode.

“Yes I am.” Noah said. “And you are coming home with me.” he said pulling a bottle of pills out of his pocket. “You’re going to start taking your medication again and then you will forget all about Jake again.” 

“No.” Amy said to him.

“You need to get your wife together. She is trying to ruin my family.” Valerie said to Noah. 

“I’m sorry.” Noah said to Valerie and Amy felt anger rising up to dangerous levels. “But I don’t know why all of you spent so long indulging in her little fantasy.”

“It’s not a _fantasy._ ” Amy yelled at him. “This is real. I was really married to him.”

“Amy sweetie.” Noah said in a low calm voice. “We’ve gone over this a thousand times. If you just take your pills things will start to get better I promise.” 

“I am not taking those pills and I am not going home with you.” Amy said. “I am not going back to Missouri _ever._ I don’t care if anyone believes me or not because it doesn't matter. The only person that i need to believe me is Jake.” She said storming out of the bullpen and then the entire building. She took one last look up at the building. This may be it. She may never be back here. Because if things don’t end the way she wants a mere forty some hours from now she was booking the first plane ticket to anywhere but New York City. 

Not knowing where else to go but feeling like she needed some fresh air she headed to the only place in the city that she knew to go to when she was feeling this way.

**Jake**

The room wouldn’t stop spinning. Even when he wasn’t thinking of her which is hardly ever the room just continued to spin. And the ringing in his ears at this point was so loud that he was absolutely convinced that he was going to go deaf. 

It’s getting progressively worse every minute it feels like. Pictures around the house are starting to get blurry. He first noticed it when he picked up the picture of him and Valerie when they got engaged. That’s when he noticed that she was growing blurry. He was clear as day but the photo of her was starting to blur her face. When he mentioned it to her and showed her the picture she claimed to not see it and asked him when his neurology appointment was. He didn’t tell her that he never made one. 

And then there were the dreams. The damn dreams. Each night they were a little more realistic than the next. And in each dream Amy’s face grew more and more clear and her voice became more and more steady. He’s even had a few NSFW dreams about her that made him get up and shower in the middle of the night trying to wash the feeling of her hands off his skin. And then there was the small part of him that wanted say fuck it and find out if it was anything close to what it felt like in the dreams.

On more than one occasion he’s woken up in the middle of the night and reached across his bed hoping to snuggle up with his wife. It isn’t until he’s got Valerie in his arms and her head tucked under his chin that he realizes she doesn't smell like _his wife_. That’s when he realizes that he was hoping that it would be Amy laying there not Valerie. And that right there really messes with his mind. Because he loves Valerie. He really does. But yet he can’t stop wishing that she was somebody else.

So that’s how he ended up here sitting on the couch staring at nothing while thinking of Amy when Valerie stormed into the house. “Where have you been?” Jake asked standing up and following her into the kitchen as she rushed around grabbing things out of the cabinet. 

“I had some business to take care of.” Valerie said casually although he could tell that she was angry based on the way her jaw was clenched and her shoulders were tight. “Did you know that she has a husband?”

“Who?” Jake asked even though he knew exactly who they were talking about.

 _“Amy.”_ Valerie responded.Jake felt something in him twist into knots. It shouldn’t have because he has wife but it did anyways. The same way it did when he heard Teddy ask her out on a date. “She’s got a husband who says that she’s mentally unstable. He was trying to get her to go back to Missouri with him.”

“I’m sorry how do you know all this” Jake asks and Valerie looks at the ground almost sheepishly. 

“I was at the nine nine.” She said refusing to make eye contact with him. “I just was so mad thinking about what she said to you that one day and I thought the best way to get over it would be to confront her on it”

“She has a husband?”

“Yeah.” Valerie said flatly. “And he’s not bad looking so I’m not sure why she feels the need. I mean you’re way better looking than him but-” Valerie said trying to back her statement up once she saw the look on Jake’s face. “That girl is a complete snake and I wish that she would just disappear. Our life was a thousand times better before she ever showed her face here.”

“Yeah.” Jake agreed weakly. Right now he couldn't shake the most recent dream of her. It had been the simplest one yet. Just the two of them walking down the street. Her hand in his. He could feel her ring pressing into his knuckle. She was laughing about something he said. It didn’t matter what the joke was the only thing that he knew was that he wanted to make her laugh like that for the rest of her life. Wanted to see the way her eyes crinkle when she smiles warmly at him. He couldn't really remember the last time that Valerie had smiled like that at him. “I think I just need to go get some air.” he said all of a sudden feeling like it was thousand degrees in the house.

“Jake?” Valerie questioned clearly concerned as she followed him to the front door. “Please tell me that you’re not going to abandon this family like your dad did yours.”

“What?” Jake asks feeling a strange sensation wash over him. “My dad didnt leave me.” he said watching the way Valerie’s face twisted up in regret over his words. “Amy said that he left me in that other life. Do you know?” Jake asked his voice cracking. “Is this not real?” his hands started to shake as he begin to realize that he didn’t really know the woman standing in front of him right now.

“Jake that’s insane. This is real of course this is real.”

“Then why did you just say that about my dad? You know that my dad was present. Amy said that he wasn’t.”

“Jake.” Valerie said. “She is not your wife. She is playing with you. Don’t let her get inside your head. This. Us. This is real. Not her.”

“I’m not sure that it is.” Jake said softly. “None of this feels real anymore. The only time I think that something is real is when I dream of her but then I wake up.”

“Jake. Please.” Valerie pleaded. 

“I just need some space.” he said before walking out of the house and closing the door behind him. He didn’t know what he was doing. For all he knew, he was throwing his marriage away for nothing right now. So he headed to the first place that his mind told him to go.


	23. Chapter 23

**Amy**

The wind was whipping around her hair and outside it was freezing but she didn’t really notice. Twenty four hours. That’s how long she had. The more that she thought about it, the more that she realized suicide really was her only choice. She’d always sworn that she wouldn’t end her own life. She wouldn't do that to her family or the nine nine or anybody else in the world that she may have had an impact on. She had always firmly believed that there was a light at the end of the the tunnel. But if in twenty four hours she was stuck here-in a world where Jake, the nine nine, her family, nobody remembered her. Well that may be a problem only a gun can solve. 

She couldn't live without him. If in the real world they got a divorce she would be able to push through it. As long as they both still had those memories of when things were beyond perfect. But she couldn't live in a world where he had no idea what he meant to her. That was just unfathomable. 

The wind blew across the roof and she pulled her jacket closer to her. As she stared out at the city, she heard the sound of the squeaky door hinges as the door was opened. She turned around to see who was intruding on her quietness. When she turned around her breath hitched in her throat as she saw him standing there.

“What are you doing up here?” he asked making his way over to the ledge of the building to stand next to her. 

Amy didn't say anything as silence quickly fell over the two of them. But it wasn’t the uncomfortable silence that she had been experiencing over the last ten months. With Jake it was comfortable. It was saying nothing and somehow saying everything. But right now she really needed him to save her. “Listen-”

“We don’t have to talk.”

“We do.” Amy said. “I know that you don’t believe me. And I want to say that’s fine but it’s not because I have to get back to my real life.”

“Amy.” Jake said slowly. “I can’t say that I believe you because I think that the entire idea is ludicrous.”

“I know.” Amy said wiping a tear away. “And it is. I get it. It’s insane. But it’s true. You fell in love with me here. It was simple for you. It was black and white. You knew that you loved me and there was no doubt about it in your mind. It wasn’t that way for me. I fell in love with you over the little things the things you probably don’t even remember.”

“Like what?” Jake whispered but he might as well have shouted it as it was so quiet on that roof.

“We had been partners for two weeks and I was having a bad day and you brought me my coffee order without even asking. That one time at cop con when I got super drunk and you carried me back to my hotel room and didn’t even try anything.”

“Well that was just me being a good guy.”

“I told you that I wanted to sleep with you that night. Told you that I thought that you were hot and that sometimes I had sex dreams about you.” Jake only shrugged his shoulders. “When you gave that speech at Dozerman’s funeral about how six days was enough for you to know that I was worth it. We had just started dating and you made an effort to always take off your shoes and hang your coat up. You folded folded my laundry for me when I was in the shower-it was really bad but it was the thought that count.” She wiped a couple of more tears off her face pulling her coat even tighter around her before continuing. “You bought a new mattress for me. You started stocking your fridge with things that only I would eat because I know you weren’t making salads. I’ve seen the way that you eat.”

“It was all the little things.” She continued. “Things that were really so trivial it’s absurd. But with each one I feel a little more in love with you until I realized I was so in love with you that I would never be able to live without you again. And that’s what’s so fucking scary about this whole thing Jake!” Amy said steady tears now streaming down her face. She was slowly beginning to accept this new reality. “In twenty four hours it’s all going to be gone and I am gong to be stuck here alone while you get to live happily ever after with her.”

“I just don’t understand how this could all be possible? I mean how did this even happen to you. If it happened to you, I’m still not convinced you’re not a psych ward patient that escaped or a fragment of my imagination.”

“I arrested this guy. He was a druggie it was stupid. He knew all these things about me when he was sitting at my desk. He knew that we were married, he knew that I was pregnant. He knew everything. Right as I went to sign my name he told me that if I did he was going to curse me. He told me that he was going to put me into a different world with everyone but that they wouldn’t know who I was.”

“So what you’re saying is that nothing in my life has really ever existed. I’m not really real because I am just a board game in this guys curse?” Jake questioned raising an eyebrow. “That’s almost worse than you just trying to convince me you’re my wife from a different timeline. How am I supposed to admit that I don’t think that I really exist?”

“It’s not that you don’t exist. Because I think you do. This curse has already changed slightly. I was here with the Gina from my world. She got cursed too. And during the time that she was in this curse, there was a girl named Stacey that took her place.”

“I don’t know a Stacey.”

“Yeah because she disappeared as soon as Gina got out. I think that if I were to get out, you would still exist but Valerie wouldn't. I think that she would be replaced with me and you would have no recollection of ever being married to her.”

“This is really fucking with my brain right now.” Jake said.

“I know.” Amy said. “And you could walk away right now. You could go home and live the rest of your life with Valerie and your two boys-”

“Oh my gosh.” Jake said her words suddenly snapping him back into reality. “What am I doing?” He asked her running a hand through his hair. “Eli and Isaac.” he said. “I am like throwing away my entire family for some delusion.” Amy watched him her heart finding what seemed like a permanent residence in her throat. “I’m sorry. I think that I owe it to them.” Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture which he gently unfolded before placing it back into her hand. “You can have it back.

She looked down at the two of them and their happy smiles. She was slowly becoming more numb to the world and her vision was almost completely blurry. “I just want you to be happy.” She said and it was the truth. She just wished that she could be the one to make him happy. He nodded and gave her a sad smile before turning and walking away. She watched his back for a minute before realizing that this might be the last time she’ll ever seen him. “Jake!” she shouted her voice echoing across the rooftop. 

He stopped and turned around to look at her and she felt the impact in her knees as she began running before she realized that she was running. She sprinted towards him until she was right there grabbing his face and pulling him down towards her crashing her lips against his.

Maybe it wasn’t the most logical decision and it definitely didn’t seem like the most ethical as she was technically kissing a married man right now. But she was probably never going to seem him again and as he began walking away she realized she hadn’t kissed him, hadn't touched him in almost ten months.

As soon as his lips touched hers she felt like the entire universe was concaving in on itself. It was like the first time that they had kissed on steroids. Everything just felt so right for a moment. It took a second, but then he responded to her grabbing her and pulling her up closer towards him, his hand tangling in her hair. 

After what felt like eternity they pulled apart to catch their breaths, foreheads still resting against each other. She sighed gripping the back of his neck. He was going to leave her. He was going to leave her crying on this rooftop and mentally she was trying to prepare herself for that. That’s when he took her by surprise and she wondered if she even heard it. “Ames.” he whispered her heart fluttering so much it should be a crime. “I don’t understand this. At all. But I believe you.” And then her vision went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go!!!!


	24. Chapter 24

**Amy**

Amy woke up gasping for air, hands flailing desperately trying to grasp onto the sheets. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get enough oxygen into her lungs. “Amy. Ames. Amy.” She could hear someone saying in the distance and when she looked over she saw Jake laying there looking at her as if he had seen a ghost. “Babe listen to me. You need to breathe. You’re about to have a panic attack.” She focused on him. He was here. He was real. He was hers. 

She followed his breathing patterns until she was finally able to breath again. “It’s alright.” he whispered as they lay back down. He pulled her into his side holding her tightly against him as she began to cry. It was over. Her was here. She reminded herself. She grabbed onto him, holding him much tighter than she ever had before. She never wanted to let him go. Ever. “it was just a nightmare.” he whispered. “Do you want to talk about? You making me talk about my prison nightmares always seemed to help me.”

“It was awful. Edgar succeed in cursing me” Amy sobed. “You didn’t know me. You were married to someone else. You were so happy with her.”

“Oh come on.” Jake said teasingly rubbing reassuring circles on her back. “You know that I couldn't ever be happy with someone else.”

“You were.” Amy said. “You were so happy with her. She was basically me. It was horrible Jake.”

“I know.” he said softly. “But it’s all over now. Just one bad dream.”

“It wasn’t a dream.” Amy said. “It was real.”

“I know that it felt real.” Jake said. “Those nightmares are the worst. But I promise you that it was not real. You were here, laying right beside me the whole night. You didn’t go anywhere. It was just a vivid dream. Just like those pregnancy book said.”

Amy nodded into him. Maybe it was just a dream. That would make more sense than her actually being cursed. She didn’t know how long she had laid there. Jake had fallen back asleep, his breaths now steady and even. He hadn’t let his grip on her losen and she was still clinging on him like he was the only thing keeping her a float.

Maybe it was a dream but it was just so damn realistic. And long. Ten months is a really long dream. Plus she went to sleep every night. Had dreams inside of a dream. She had never heard of that happening before. Surely it has, but she’s never heard of it. 

As she lays there going over every single event it hits her that there is a really easy way to find out if this was a dream or not. Despite her better judgement she let go of Jake and carefully crawled out of bed grabbing her phone off the nightstand and heading out into the living room.

She found Gina’s number quickly calling her. She picked up on the first ring. “What kind of drug did we just take?” She asks. 

“So it wasn’t just a dream.” Amy said. She didn’t know if that made her feel better or worse.

“If that was just a dream, we somehow interacted with each other and lived in the same dream universe for ten months.” Gina said. “How’d you get out? Things were looking pretty bad when I did.”

“I kissed him and it seemed to jog his memory.” Amy whispered into the phone. She was scared to death that she was going to wake Jake up again. “How about you? You got out of it so much faster than I did.”

“I dumped Milton. I guess that by doing that I was doing a nice thing for Iggy by giving her her dad back. And I wasn't thinking about myself while I did.” Gina replied. It was around midnight when they started talking but by the time that they had both agreed to hang up, the sun was already starting to peak over the horizon and they still felt like they had so much to talk about.

She then very quietly made her way back into bed, snuggling back up into Jake’s warm embrace. Still she was not able to fall asleep, so she stared at the window watching the sun slowly rise and drawing lazy circles on his chest. She rests a hand on her stomach smiling to herself knowing that her baby(ies) were safe. She was okay. She was here, in Jake’s arms. He was hers again. Everything was going to be okay. She reassured herself for the thousandth time that night.

When her alarm clock went off, she allowed herself for the first time in however many months, let Jake talk her into staying in bed. He thought that he had won her over with the sloppy kiss to the neck but really he only had to say the words and she would've said yes. If he were to ask her to skip work all together today and just stay in bed she would say yes without a hint of hesitation in her voice. 

After two snoozes on the alarm clock, Jake finally got out of bed and she supposed that she should probably follow him. She talked the entire time they were getting ready and the entire commute to the nine nine. She had so much to say. Ten months worth of conversations that she felt like she needed to catch up on. They talked about absolutely nothing of importance. The weather, his mom’s new job at the new school, how her brother wants the two of them to fly out to Utah. The works. But she didn’t care she was just so glad to hear his voice. 

"Oh by the way." She said. "I feel like we are going to have twin boys."

"Twin boys?" Jake asked. "You want to bet? I'm thinking one girl."

"I would bet a million dollars." Amy said to him before they headed out of the house towards their car to go to work.

When she got to the nine nine, Gina practically jumped out of her skin with excitement to see Amy. Together the two of them made their way to the holding cell where Edgar was still locked up. “Well well well.” Gina said tauntingly. “You really thought that you could curse Gina Linetti? Son you just got served.”

Amy glanced over her shoulder to make sure that none of their colleagues were listening before she asked her question. “How’d you do it.”

“What do you mean?” Edgar asked sounding frustrated. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he really didn’t think that they would be able to make it out of that.

“I mean how did you do? I don’t understand how any of that was possible.” Amy said.

“A real magician never reveals his secrets.” Edgar said with a small smirk that Amy so desperately wanted to wipe off of his face. “Are you going to let me out of here?”

“Why would I do that?” Amy asked. “You told me that you were going to curse me. You did. I beat it. You lose. Why would I let you out now after I’ve already won?”

“You think you’ve won?” Edgar asked getting up as close to her as he could before the bars stopped her. “You really think that you beat me?”

“Well I got Jake to say that he believed me and I’m standing here talking to you and you are behind bars. So yeah I think I won.” Amy said.

Edgar laughed a cruel cold laugh that made Amy’s spine tingle in a way she most definitely did not. “You dumb naive little bitch.” Edgar said.

“Hey!” Gina yelled at him. “Don’t you dare call my friend that. We made it out of your curse. I did a selfless thing and Amy got Jake to believe her. You can do anything you want and that will always be the outcome. We will _always_ find a way to foil your plan. We beat you. You lost. Get over it. It happens to everyone. Put on your big girl panties, swallow your pride and suck it up.” Gina said before grabbing Amy by the elbow and pulling her away. “He’s not worth our time.”

“You’re right.” Amy agreed sitting down at her desk as Gina made her way towards hers. Amy started to gather things that she needed to do her work for the day. She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a loose photograph that was sitting there on top of her case file. It was the picture of Jake and Valerie, the one that she had stole of Jake’s desk all those nights. Looking at Valerie even now made her blood absolutely boil. So she crumpled the picture up and threw it into her garbage can. When she glanced back up, she caught Gina’s eyes. The two girls shared a knowing smile and then the ground started to shake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY!!!! This is the only way that I could really see the story ending feel free to yell at me in the comments!!
> 
> As of right now I think that this is my last au for a while. I probably will be back at some point but I don't have anything in the works yet. That being said thank you guys so much for all the love and support you've given me throughout this series, it absolutely has meant the world to me :)

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments absolutely make my day :)


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